2025/07/15 by Mohammad Fazle Rabbi · 2 voices
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · #Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact #Environmental Impact and Sustainability #Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s44246-025-00220-w
openalex publication_date 2025/07/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Abstract The European Union's aspiration to the sustainable food future hinges on a fundamental question: how to optimize the carbon footprint of our plates? This study evaluates pathways to reduce carbon footprint and enhance SDG-12 performance in eight EU countries from 2010 to 2022. Carbon emissions are analyzed across production, processing, distribution, and consumption stages, providing critical insights for meeting the Green Deal's targets of reducing CO 2 and non-CO 2 emissions. Food processing is identified as the dominant emission source, averaging 30.5% of total emissions and reaching 52% in France and 47.8% in Italy. Household food consumption accounts for 32.2% of emissions in Germany, 28.1% in Czechia, and 26.7% in Portugal, while on-farm energy use contributes 25.2% in Hungary and 19.5% in Portugal. Strong correlations are observed between raw material consumption and both food packaging ( r = 0.88) and agrifood system waste disposal ( r = 0.93), indicating systemic inefficiencies. Sustainability Index trends reveal marked regional disparities, with Germany consistently scoring between 0.8 and 1.2, and Hungary and Portugal predominantly in the negative range (-0.4 to -0.8). Principal Component Analysis shows that the first component explains 75.6% of total variance, with key contributions from raw material consumption, household food consumption emissions, and consumption footprint. Decomposition analysis attributes emission changes primarily to structural economic shifts and improvements in sustainability practices, particularly in Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Circular material use rates improved notably after 2013 in France and post-2016 in Spain. The study recommends targeted policies to reduce on-farm emissions, promote renewable energy, and incentivize efficient technologies. Such interventions could reduce emissions by over 20% in food processing and up to 50% in households, highlighting major opportunities for carbon mitigation and progress toward the EU’s sustainability and climate goals. Graphical Abstract