In order to tackle the climate crisis, it’s important to determine priorities. These are the world’s most polluting industries – those it is crucial to decarbonize if we are to meet our climate goals.
By now, we all know greenhouse gases are responsible for global warming and the destabilization of our climate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) regularly reminds us of the urgency of reducing carbon emissions to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis. But what should be our priority?
Identifying the world’s most polluting sectors is a sure way to make the biggest dent in emissions in the shortest time frame.
Top polluting sector: fossil fuels
It is no surprise that the fossil fuels sector is the most polluting in the world. Despite this knowledge, emissions from fossil fuels keep increasing. After a brief decline during the Covid 19 pandemic, they grew by 1% in 2022, reaching 40.5 gigatons of CO2.Shifting our energy sources from coal, oil and gas to renewable power such as solar and wind is necessary to stabilize our climate. Here are the countries that are leading the energy transition.
Second most polluting sector: agriculture
Agriculture accounts for about 11% of greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), global emissions due to agriculture were 9.3 billion tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2eq) in 2018, led by methane and nitrous oxide emissions from crop and livestock activities.
There are several ways to tackle greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. First, it is crucial that the world starts eating less meat: livestock production processes are the biggest culprit in farm emissions, generating 4 billion tons of CO2eq in 2018 and causing widespread deforestation. Second, regenerative agriculture, sometimes known as carbon farming, offers a more sustainable way to produce food while sequestering more carbon in the soil. Azolla Projects and ClimateTrade are currently developing Spain’s first EU-aligned carbon farming project.
Fashion, the third most polluting industry
The fashion industry produces about 10% of our annual carbon footprint – more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined! And GHG emissions are not the only problem with the fashion sector: it also consumes enough water to quench the thirst of five million people every year, and creates millions of tons of plastic and other waste that pollute our air and oceans.
The solution is simple: move away from fast fashion, buy fewer but better quality pieces of clothing, and opt for sustainable brands that disclose their environmental impact transparently and act to reduce it.
Other polluting industries
Food retail includes the activities from markets, supermarkets and restaurants selling food to consumers – and most of this sector’s emissions come from food and plastic waste. It is estimated that food waste alone represents 8 to 10% of global GHG emissions. In the EU, 57 million tons of food is wasted every year: that’s 127 kg per inhabitant! Programs that collect leftover food from supermarkets and restaurants to distribute for free or at a discount are a great way to reduce emissions. For example, France introduced a law in 2016 forbidding supermarkets from throwing away food. Instead, they are required to donate leftovers to associations, who then redistribute them to people in need.
Transport
Globally, transport is responsible for about one-fifth of GHG emissions. About 40% of these come from the transportation of merchandise, while the rest (60%) come from passenger travel, led by air travel. Electric vehicles, alternative fuels and initiatives like the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) are helping to decarbonize this sector.
Construction
Taking into account the extraction and transportation of building materials, construction processes and everyday operations buildings are estimated to emit about 40% of global emissions.
Choosing more sustainable construction materials and methods, improving energy efficiency and offsetting remaining emissions are just some of the avenues the sector can explore to make its way towards net zero.
- SEO Powered Content & PR Distribution. Get Amplified Today.
- PlatoAiStream. Web3 Data Intelligence. Knowledge Amplified. Access Here.
- Minting the Future w Adryenn Ashley. Access Here.
- Buy and Sell Shares in PRE-IPO Companies with PREIPO®. Access Here.
- Source: https://climatetrade.com/the-worlds-most-polluting-industries/
