“We have reached a now or never moment for upscaling TCA.”
In 2018, the TEEBAgriFood Evaluation Framework established a common architecture for applications of True Cost Accounting (TCA). This was a landmark in TCA’s development, representing a widespread consensus on the required elements of TCA applications and inspiring dozens of public and private sector case studies.
“It’s a critical time to double down on some of the methods, tools and processes by which we can help businesses maintain this ambition, keep this holistic lens, and really reduce some of that burden…I’m really hopeful that TCA offers an opportunity for the private sector to be good advocates alongside governments and consumers, and create that enabling space and enabling environment that we all need to meet our sustainability goals”.
2024 is a significant year for many reasons. High numbers of regional and national elections have contributed to a constantly shifting political landscape, with the US election still to come next week. At the same time, temperature records have been broken around the world, and reports on the state of biodiversity loss are increasingly dire.
This article is adapted from remarks delivered by TCA Accelerator Director Jenn Yates at the World Farmers Market Coalition (WFMC) General Assembly on True Cost Accounting as a tool to more effectively convey the full value of farmers markets, revealing their multiple benefits for community, health, and nature.
For the first time, leaders at COP28 officially recognized the huge impact the food on our plates has on the world around us. It’s time global leaders took action to maximize the benefits of our food system for people and planet. Adele Jones and Jenn Yates set out the role True Cost Accounting can play in realizing this promise.
Op-Ed in Devex by Alexander Mueller (TMG Think Tank) and Jenn Yates (TCA Accelerator) discusses FAO’s 2023 State of Food And Agriculture report and the need for true cost accounting to transform global food systems and maximize value for people and the planet.
The United Nations’ State of Food and Agriculture report shows that global agriculture and food systems cause hidden environmental, social and health costs amounting to at least $10 trillion each year – nearly 10% of global GDP.
By Dr. Harpinder Sandhu, Federation University Australia. Food systems transformation requires us to understand the full-scale impacts and dependencies of current food systems, whether in considering the way food is produced, to examining the broader impacts of trade, processing, distribution and consumption on planetary and human health.
By Jenn Yates, TCA Accelerator Director. Following COP 27, Jenn Yates shares her highlights from the session she moderated on the true costs and impacts of food systems.
By Jenn Yates, TCA Accelerator Director. Billed as one of humanity’s crowning achievements, the world has succeeded in producing seemingly limitless quantities of a certain food, feed, and fuel ingredients.