Chocolate and Climate Change Imagine a life without chocolate!

Can you imagine Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, New Years, any celebration without chocolate?

Well, it may happen or you may have to pay a very high price for this luxury in the future.

Studies show that rising temperatures could wipe out a third of cocoa production worldwide by the middle of this century, and climate change is already impacting cocoa crop yields.

Last month it was announced that Global cocoa market prices have hit a new all-time record high ($5,874) as dry weather hurts crops in West Africa.

The cost of the key ingredient for making chocolate has now roughly doubled since the start of last year and soaring cocoa prices are already filtering through to consumers and squeezing major chocolate makers. The price of some festive chocolate for last Christmas and Easter increased 50% from a year before.

The El Niño weather phenomenon has been causing drier weather in Ghana and Ivory Coast, which are the world’s two biggest producers of cocoa beans (60% of the world production, 75% for Africa, 25% for South America, 5% for Asia), leading much of the cocoa crop to spoil due to rot and disease. Hotter temperatures, shifts in rainfall patterns, and extreme weather events caused by climate change hurt cocoa production, damage cocoa pod development, promote spread of pests and disease, and also have an impact on harvests.

Cocoa is mainly cultivated by smallholder farmers, many of whom will face hard choices as cultivation of the crop grows more difficult. Many are starting to move to higher altitudes for more appropriate weather; others will just give up cocoa cultivation or any cultivation for that matter.

This demonstrates again that climate change not only poses a threat to food security, but also endangers the livelihoods of farmers.

Cocoa comes from the seed of the cacao tree and is an essential ingredient for chocolates. But it’s not only used in food and confectionery. Cocoa butter — a byproduct of cocoa processing — is also widely used in the pharmaceutical industry for skincare products and cosmetics, therefore the price of these products will also rise.

The other bad news is the environmental impacts of cocoa farming. The three major issues facing sustainable cocoa production are deforestation, climate change, and disease control.

Chocolate carbon footprint is very high: A 2019 study from the University of Edinburgh in the UK estimated that a milk chocolate bar causes 200g of carbon dioxide (the most common of the so-called ‘greenhouse gases’ that cause the planet to overheat), while a dark chocolate bar causes 300g. That means that compared to a healthier snack such as, say, a banana, the impact of chocolate on our climate is a whopping six to nine times higher, gram for gram.

Everything we eat has some kind of impact on the environment (food accounts for about a quarter of the pollution that causes climate change), and not every chocolate bar is the same, so the exact footprint depends on how the ingredients are farmed. But – and we hate to be the bearer of bad news – chocolate is up there with meat and cheese as one of the foods with the biggest impact on our climate.

So what can we do about it?

• Choose brands that commit to protecting forests – such as certified by the Rainforest Alliance.

• Try vegan milk chocolate. Its footprint is smaller, because plant milk creates less emissions than cow’s milk.

• And eat chocolate with moderation!

LOCAL ACTION PRODUCES GLOBAL IMPACT.

Engage with Wasaga Beach Climate Action Team https://wasagabeachclimateaction.com/ info@wasagabeachclimateaction.com