RISE climate scale for meals

Why have we developed a climate scale for meals?

RISE clearly notices the increased demand from different parts of the food sector for knowledge about food's climate impact. It is perceived as a challenge to understand whether a carbon footprint is low or high and aids to more easily interpret and relate to a meal's carbon footprint have been requested.

What is the purpose of RISE Climate scale for meals?

The purpose of the climate scale is to facilitate the understanding of what a climate-smart meal, for lunch or dinner, is. The scale should provide guidance on what counts as low and high climate impact for a meal, taking into account different time horizons. It will provide guidance on what is a good step in the short term, but also guidance on the level we should strive for in the longer term in order to achieve the goal in the Paris Agreement.

Who can use RISE Climate Scale for meals?

The target group for RISE Climate scale is actors in Sweden who produce, sell, serve or consume meals. RISE hopes that the use of the climate scale will increase the consensus among food actors on communication about climate-friendly meal alternatives and also make it easier for consumers to choose climate-smart.

RISE Climate scale for meals with associated visualization with stars is openly available to anyone who wants to use it, provided the user uses the material without modification. RISE Climate scale is a concept which includes a visualization with stars to explain the scale in a clear way. If you choose to be inspired by the concept but use a different type of visualization, you can refer to using the same intervals as in the RISE Climate scale for meals, but do not say that you use RISE Climate scale for meals because that includes the stars as part of the concept.

Things to keep in mind when using the scale

The climate scale is developed for meal portions for meal guests with a normal nutritional need, it is not adapted for people with special nutritional needs. Reducing the climate impact of a meal by reducing the amount of nutrition is not the way to go. We therefore recommend that the climate scale be used in combination with nutritional calculations of meals and dishes in accordance with the Swedish national dietary guidelines, in the same way as is done in the public meal sector today. 

In an organisation, we see advantages of using the scale to calculate average levels for a weekly menu.

Climate impact is one of several important aspects that need to be taken into account in the work for more sustainable food consumption and production. To capture other perspectives, the climate scale can be used to advantage together with other tools and working methods for increased sustainability.