Food transport gets emissions blame

Food logistics will come under the spotlight when the World Wildlife Fund South Africa meets with industry later this year. A workshop has been scheduled with the freight sector for March 26 in Gauteng when feedback will be given following an in-depth study commissioned by the WWF into what the country’s freight emissions are and who are the biggest culprits. According to Louise Naudé, the organisation’s national climate change officer, the study into freight transport emissions, which has been ongoing for the past year, found that the movement of food was one of the biggest contributors to emissions. “There was no point in an ivory tower exercise and so we brought expert consultants on board who undertook a very detailed and in-depth look at freight transport emissions, working closely with the road freight industry,” she said. “The first step was a workshop with the industry more than a year ago from which we gained some very good insight to start constructing a model.” She said finding out what causes emissions was the first step. “And road freight was causing emissions, so the next question was what causes road freight and so we traced it back to causes of causes and the relationships between all the different aspects.” She said the freighting of food had emerged as the cause of one of the biggest emissions. “It is now time to go back to the industry with our findings and to get their further input as we continue to refine this document.” Naudé said the road freight industry would get the opportunity to peruse the document to determine if the WWF SA was on the right path. “We are taking all of our findings and the input from the industry and modelling these to find a systems approach that can be implemented as a solution.” INSERT & CAPTION We are taking all of our findings and the input from the industry and modelling these to find a systems approach that can be implemented as a solution. – Louise Naudé