
Mexican Food Bank First to Receive Carbon Credits for Rescuing Food
- foodfightadmin
- March 23, 2023
- Climate Change, Food Bank Support
- rsc pages
- 0 Comments
The Mexican FoodBanking Network (BAMX) has pioneered a new approach in the fight against food waste by becoming the first organization worldwide to generate carbon credits from food rescue. In collaboration with CoreZero based in Miami, BAMX converted the quantity of carbon dioxide emissions saved through its food rescue operations into carbon credits. This innovation allows BAMX to sell these credits to businesses aiming to decrease their carbon footprint. The monetization of food waste is a significant development in the expanding voluntary carbon market, which was valued at $2 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach between $10 and $40 billion by 2030, per a Shell report.
Getting to this point involved meticulous auditing of BAMX‘s operations and impacts, as shared by Executive Director, Maria Teresa Garcia Plata. The food bank earns a carbon credit for each ton of food rescued. Active in the voluntary carbon credit market since the beginning of the year, BAMX anticipates that the value of its credits could range from $1.80 to $2 per ton and may reach up to $5 to $6 per ton when the social value is considered.
Ivan Hernandez Villegas, founder of Sajoma Climate Technical Consulting, stated that the current prices for carbon credits in the voluntary market range from $2 to $12 per ton, with credits from food recovery having increased value due to their novelty. He advised those interested in entering the carbon credit market to gain a basic understanding of its operation and relevance to food bank activities.
FareShare, a London-based organization, took a slightly different approach. Instead of focusing on earning carbon credits, they started tracking their carbon footprint to show the social and environmental impacts of their work. They collaborated with The Carbon Trust to measure carbon emissions from their operations and the food they distribute. Their findings showed for each ton of carbon emissions they produced, they prevented nine tons from being unnecessarily wasted. FareShare now intends to develop a standard calculator to monitor its carbon emissions and share it with network partners in the future. The ability to track their environmental and social impact aids in establishing more robust relationships with food donors, according to Alyson Walsh, FareShare‘s Commercial Director.