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Food Consumption and Production Fuels Growth in City’s Ecological Footprint
[HONG KONG – 16 March 2021] The world would require 4.4 Earths if everyone were to adopt Hong Kong’s current lifestyle
The analysis shows that Hong Kong’s Ecological Footprint is the third worst per-capita in the Asia-Pacific region and 14th-worst globally (Please refer to Appendix 1). According to Gloria Lai, WWF-Hong Kong’s Ecological Footprint specialist: “Our daily household consumption habits account for 76% of Hong Kong’s total Ecological Footprint, with food consumption (21%) leading the way, followed by personal transportation (11%) and the restaurants and hotel services (8%).”
“Food remains the largest contributor of our Ecological Footprint,” Gloria added, “having occupied the same spot in the 2019 analysis, with seafood (30%) and meat (25%) the top two contributors.” The new findings come ahead of Earth Hour, WWF’s annual environmental global call for people to commit to adopting a more sustainable lifestyle.
As part of our Earth Hour campaign, WWF has partnered with Food Made Good HK on food sustainability by showcasing sustainable dishes from local chefs on the One Planet Plate platform. Heidi Spurrell, CEO of Food Made Good HK said, “At Food Made Good we are passionate about the role restaurants can play in pushing for a more sustainable planet and inspiring diners to make sustainable choices when eating out. We all must play our part of reducing our environmental impact and Earth Hour is a fun way to shine light on the issues."
According to WWF’s Living Planet Report 2020, the populations of vertebrate species dropped by 68% between 1970 and 2016. Land-use change caused by meat production is the main driver of biodiversity loss in terrestrial systems.
“The latest Ecological Footprint study shows our present lifestyle is unsustainable and as the current pandemic highlights, consumption of wildlife also threatens our health and wellbeing,” said Peter Cornthwaite, CEO, WWF-Hong Kong. “The results are an urgent call for us to change the way we live both at the community and individual level, starting with our food production and consumption. Hong Kong’s F&B industry can greatly help cut down on our local carbon footprint by promoting a flexitarian diet of consuming less meat and more plant-based foods.”
The world would require 4.4 Earths if everyone were to adopt Hong Kong’s current lifestyle