Climate impact
Food and climate change are deeply connected. Find out how growing, producing and eating food affects the environment – and how you can cut your food carbon footprint.
Climate impact
Sustainable seafood guide: choosing fish with a low impact
Eating fish can be healthy and planet-friendly. Find out what responsible fishing and farming looks like and how to buy sustainable seafood at the supermarket.
Is climate change making our food less nutritious?
How carbon dioxide impacts the nutritional content of our food
Food security in a changing climate: how extreme weather affects what we eat
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions for Climate impact
Crops don’t like extremes, they can be fussy. Too hot, too dry, too wet, or too unpredictable – all of it makes farming harder. And with climate change, these extremes are becoming more common across Europe.
Heatwaves and droughts shrink harvests by stressing plants and drying up soils. Wheat, one of Europe’s most important crops, has already seen yields fall in countries like Spain and Germany during hot, dry years. Cows and other livestock also suffer in high heat: animals produce less, and their health declines.
We’re often told to save water by turning off taps while brushing our teeth or taking quicker showers. But at least half of our overall water consumption comes from what we eat.
The water footprint of food refers to the amount of water used to grow, produce, package and transport food.
Plants need water to grow. Animals need water to drink, just like we do, and they also eat plants like grass, corn, or soy, which need water to grow. Washing, cooking, and packaging food takes water, too.
Some foods create more greenhouse gas emissions than others, use more water, or take up more space to grow. Some foods with a high climate cost include:
Beef: This is one of the most climate-intensive foods. Producing 1kg creates about 99kg of greenhouse gases (equivalent to driving 201km) and requires 1,451 liters of water. Beef farming also uses 20 times more land than common plant proteins.
Cheese: Made from large amounts of milk, 1kg of hard cheese creates about 23kg of CO2 equivalents and uses an average of 5,600 liters of water. Hard cheeses typically have a higher footprint than soft cheeses because they require more milk and longer refrigerated storage.
Rice: A global staple with a significant footprint. Producing 1kg releases around 4kg of CO2 equivalents, mainly due to methane from flooded paddy fields. It also requires about 2,500 liters of water per kg.