Tackling climate change with low-carbon diets

Kim Chun-jin
The author is the CEO of the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation.

The theme of the 2024 Paris Olympics, which will kick off on July 26, is “going green and carbon neutral.” The organizing committee has set a goal to reduce the total carbon footprint of the Games to less than half of the Olympic average. The average Summer Olympic Games emits 3.5 million tons of carbon and the Paris event has set a goal of 1.5 million tons. The committee also plans to double the vegetarian meals served to athletes and audiences during the game period. And yet, there is one thing missing from this carbon-neutral and environment-friendly Olympics — an action plan the whole world can participate in.

The climate crisis is the most important and urgent challenge that humanity must overcome together. The World Economic Forum selected climate disasters as the biggest global risk of this year in its Global Risks Report 2024. There are forecasts that last year’s record as the hottest year will be broken this year. Global action to address the climate crisis is no longer an option but a must.

Since 2021, the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, a public entity responsible for food in Korea, has been promoting a low-carbon diet movement to overcome the climate crisis by changing the way we eat. The movement aims to reduce carbon emissions from the production, distribution, processing and consumption of food by organizing diets with eco-friendly and low-carbon agricultural and fishery products and consuming them without leftovers.

This is based on the physical science basis of the 6th report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stating that humans are causing global warming. If humans are causing this crisis, humans must resolve it. Just as the UN Food and Agriculture Organization announced that 31 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from the world’s agri-food system, reducing carbon emissions in this sector is crucial. The low carbon diet initiative is about changing human behavior, empowering consumers to change suppliers, protecting human health and reducing “foodprint,” the greenhouse gas emissions produced by every step of food production and distribution. Anyone can take action no matter what their nationality or language is.

As of now, global enterprises — such as Amazon of the United States, Alibaba of China, Carrefour of France and more than 700 organizations in 47 countries — are participating in this initiative. Moreover, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Paris Organizing Committee are also joining the low carbon diet campaign with the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, the Korean national team participating in the Paris Olympics and World Taekwondo. This is intended to inspire the entire world to join the initiative using the opportunity of the 2024 Olympic Games. This will make the Games significant as a low carbon and green Olympics and create a new turning point in the fight against the climate crisis.

The 2024 Olympic Games are returning to Paris after 100 years. During that period, the Games have expanded its number of participating countries and sports, but the planet has grown sicker. Over the past century, the average temperature in France has risen by 1.66 degrees Celsius (about 3 degrees Fahrenheit) and carbon emissions have increased by 1.8 times. By 2100, it is expected to rise by another 3.8 degrees. This fuels the grim prospect that the Summer Olympics will no longer be held in the summer due to global warming. Before we worry about the future of the Olympic Games, we must worry about the survival of the human race.

Let’s use the Paris 2024 Olympics as an opportunity to start the low carbon diet. When the world stands together, the climate crisis can be overcome. Just like how the five intertwined Olympic rings symbolize global solidarity, this crisis can be a turning point for a better future if we unite.

In 2021, the IOC added one more element to the Olympic motto. Now it reads “Faster, Higher, Stronger — Together.” The new element, added for the first time in 127 years, was “together.” For the sake of the planet we all live on, let’s join climate action together. We must not miss the critical time to save our planet. The future of humanity depends on our actions now.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.