On a panel discussion alongside four other elites at the 2024 World Economic Forum, Swiss banker Hubert Keller argued drinking coffee leads to high emissions. After remarking “we were enjoying our coffee right before the session,” the mediator asked Keller to expand on “the coffee example” he had raised when it comes to climate change. “Basically, the coffee that we all drink emits between 15 and 20 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of coffee,” Keller said. “So we should all know that every time we drink coffee, we are basically putting CO2 into the atmosphere.”“Most of the coffee plantations, or most of the coffee, is produced from monoculture. And monoculture is also affected by climate change,” he said. “The quality of these niche assets is deteriorating quite rapidly.”.Keller said the coffee industry is a $250 billion market globally, and pointed out only 10% of its value goes to growth and “yet 90% or more of the value sits downstream in the value chain.”The problematic nature of this, he said, is “most coffee growers live below the poverty line.”“And it's an incredibly fragmented industry where I think on average, the coffee grower sort of farms on average, a little bit more than one hectare. So it's it's very, very, it's very tiny.”
On a panel discussion alongside four other elites at the 2024 World Economic Forum, Swiss banker Hubert Keller argued drinking coffee leads to high emissions. After remarking “we were enjoying our coffee right before the session,” the mediator asked Keller to expand on “the coffee example” he had raised when it comes to climate change. “Basically, the coffee that we all drink emits between 15 and 20 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of coffee,” Keller said. “So we should all know that every time we drink coffee, we are basically putting CO2 into the atmosphere.”“Most of the coffee plantations, or most of the coffee, is produced from monoculture. And monoculture is also affected by climate change,” he said. “The quality of these niche assets is deteriorating quite rapidly.”.Keller said the coffee industry is a $250 billion market globally, and pointed out only 10% of its value goes to growth and “yet 90% or more of the value sits downstream in the value chain.”The problematic nature of this, he said, is “most coffee growers live below the poverty line.”“And it's an incredibly fragmented industry where I think on average, the coffee grower sort of farms on average, a little bit more than one hectare. So it's it's very, very, it's very tiny.”
