Who does not like flowers? The thing of beauty that soothes the eyes and calms the soul; loved by all and pinnacle of decoration in almost every occasion. Back in the days, flowers had more cultural importance and obviously, locally grown flowers were used. But nowadays, it is all about exotic flowers; they have become a new benchmark of celebrations and special occasions. The redefined ways of flower consumption look fancy but traces of global warming hidden under the veil of fragrance cannot be ignored.
Import oriented Flower Industry
Majority of the flower industry demands are fulfilled through importing. Colombia and Netherlands are the largest producers of cut flowers worldwide followed by Ecuador and Kenya. Africa is emerging as the lead player in flower industry owing to favourable climatic conditions and cheap availability of labour.
Lilies, Roses and carnations; adorning the occasions reach the destinations after going through intensive agricultural practices and pesticide use. But without touching upon the lifecycle of plant, this article is aimed to cover the carbon footprints of flowers after harvest.
GHG emissions
Before travelling in cargo planes, cut flowers need refrigeration in order to maintain freshness and prevent wilting. The refrigerated warehouses emit Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC’s) which has thousands times more Global Warming Potential as compared to carbon-dioxide. The imported flowers are again stored in refrigerated warehouses before reaching the vendors. The story does not end here, the refrigerated trucks used for shipping use more fuel and produce more carbon-dioxide than a normal truck. This small cycle and long distance covered by cut flowers from source of production to point of consumption emits huge quantity of greenhouse gases.
The estimates of International Council on Clean Transportation revealed that distance covered by cut flowers from Colombia to US airports generated 3,60,000 metric tonnes of CO2 on the eve of Valentine’s day in 2018. What an irony? Symbol of love travelling to celebrate the day of love leaving behind the evil smoke to simmer for years.
The projected growth of flower industry
As per Floriculture Market-Global Industry Analysis and Forecast, floriculture market has reached a value of US $ 50.50 billion in 2021 and is expected to be around US $94.17 billion by 2029. This report has taken into account bedding plants, cut flowers, potted plants and others. The largest market share(57%) is occupied by flowers used as gifts on special occasions. It is a big industry under progress that needs mindful consumers and accountable producers.
Is there a way for sustainability?
There is no doubt that flowers are the most affordable and beautiful way to express your feelings. It is always upon humans to utilise the resources or exploit them. A global consensus is building up to promote locally grown flowers. Currently, it is unrealistic to completely phase out imported flowers but the hues of local flowers will make the celebrations more colourful.
Slow Flower Movement started in Australia but now also gaining momentum in US and UK believes in the philosophy of “GROWN NOT FLOWN”. This concept is a practical example of sustainable development as it will encourage local floriculture, provide jobs, protect biodiversity along with catering the needs of flower market.
I believe that gifting indoor plants or potted plants is a better gesture of love as you can nurture the plant and watch it growing and blooming.
Hope for regulation
Currently, there are no regulations to monitor the GHG emissions associated with flower industry. As per Paris Climate Agreement, carbon emissions need to reach net zero by 2050 and multi-dimensional approach is required for this realisation; flower industry is one of those dimensions. Import of flowers cannot be banned but it can be regulated if awareness is generated to go for local and seasonal flowers along with backing by effective global laws or binding agreements. Some decades back, Who thought that world will be united to phase out fossil fuels? But now we are hopeful to achieve this in coming decades.
Every issue needs a baby step to move towards solution; promoting local and seasonal flowers and framing international laws to regulate GHG emissions of flower industry could be that one tiny step to make this industry sustainable.
References:
- Maximizemarketresearch.com (Floriculture Market-Global Industry Analysis and Forecast (2022-2029)
- Ideas.ted.com ( The environmental impact of cut flowers? not so rosy)
