Carbon and Water Footprint

Abstract

Climate change has become one of the most relevant global challenges that impact the overall world. One way to combat climate change is to calculate and reduce the climate impacts of single products. An estimate of the total amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted from a life cycle perspective of a good or service gives an overview of the contribution to climate change from this product, usually referred to as product carbon footprint (PCF). A full life cycle product carbon footprint is necessary to identify emission hotspots in the product value chains and thereby address the climate change on the product level in the most efficient way. Products' carbon footprint also make it possible to compare the climate change impact of competing horticultural products (e.g., the fruits coming from different countries but sold in the same store). However, only a limited amount of products' carbon footprints including the raw material acquisition, production, distribution, and the consumer stage have been published about horticultural products.