Page 152 - Ecuador's Banana Sector under Climate Change

ecuador’s banana sector under climate change: an economic and biophysical assessment to promote a sustainable and climate-compatible strategy
footprint of the banana. Jones and Kammen (2011) examine GHG abatement opportunities for United States households, where the results vary according
to household income, size, composition and location. A common pattern, however, emerges, where a change in transportation habits would be the greatest contribution to the abatement of emissions. This specifically refers to a reduction in air travel, a shift towards more energy-efficient vehicles, less distance driven and an increase in the use of mass transit. A change in food consumption (less meat and dairy products) and in household energy use (less heating and cooling systems; use of efficient light bulbs; smaller refrigerators; and line-dry laundry in lieu of electric dryers) will offer similar opportunities for abating GHG emissions.
An emission tax on the price of fuel and energy could contribute to a shift in shopping patterns - shopping closer to home or less frequently - while increasing the average amount of grocery purchases, particularly in terms of suburban and rural households. Consumers usually buy ripe or almost ripe bananas, although they regularly purchase produce that requires a few days to ripen (e.g. tomatoes, avocados and other climacteric fruit). In the case of the banana, the patience
of the consumer could be cultivated. To remind consumers that bananas are greener than normal could be effective, as would a price discount for greener bananas compared to ready-to-eat yellow bananas.48
4. The supply chain from farm to retail
This section is empirically based on three recent banana LCAs that have been undertaken. One relates to Ecuador’s banana sector and the bananas that are shipped to Spain via Rotterdam, the Netherlands (see Chapter 4). The second relates to Dole bananas that are exported from Costa Rica to Northern Europe (Kilian, et al., 2012); and the third refers to Chiquita Brand International, Inc. (CBI) bananas that are sent from Central America to the United States (Craig et al., 2012). The CBI study refers to the weighted average carbon footprint of bananas from several production areas in Central America to several ports in the United States and then to retail locations across the country. Table 51 compares and summarizes the results of the three LCAs relating to the supply chain. The carbon footprint is expressed as the CO2-equivalent in kilos per tonne of bananas for each segment of the supply chain (kg-CO2e/t), equivalent to grams of CO2e per kilo of bananas.
The carbon footprint calculations are similar (1 010 kg, 900 kg and 1 077 kg) but their compositions differ markedly, especially in terms of distance. Ocean transportation accounts for three quarters of the carbon footprint relating to bananas shipped to Northern Europe, but approximately one fifth for those exported to the less distant American market. Since the United States is less densely populated than Japan and Northern Europe, its ground transportation costs are ten times greater than those in Northern Europe. The wholesale,
retail and ripening facilities of the United States are also more energy-intensive than European facilities. Similarly, ground transportation from Rotterdam to the
48 Consumers respond to prices by adjusting the quantity of their purchases and home inventories (Hendel and Nevo (2006) and McKenzie and Schargrodsky (2011)).
136