There are many ways to achieve the goal of net zero CO2 emissions by 2050, set by the Federal Council in August 2019 to limit global temperature rise to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius. These include the SWEET promotion program – " Swiss Energy research for the Energy Transition,“ promoted by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE). The latest call for tenders – ”Addressing Hard-To-Abate Emissions to Reach the Net-Zero Target of Switzerland" – calls for the identification of technical, economic, and social measures in those sectors where emissions are difficult to avoid, as well as their large-scale implementation starting in 2030. The call for tenders was awarded to the ACHIEVE consortium, led by Empa and comprising 14 partners from across Switzerland.
Nine universities and five project partners will collaborate over the next six years with companies, associations, and administrations to study, for example, how biomass can be used sustainably in the cascade system, what circular approaches can contribute to the decarbonization of the industrial sector, and how to reduce emissions in the agri-food system. SUPSI will be involved in the latter area with research activities related to the consumer perspective on reducing emissions from food systems.
According to environmental accounting, cited by the Federal Office for Agriculture in the Agriculture and Food Climate Strategy 2050, in 2020, the food-related footprint of households in Switzerland amounted to 16.8 tons of CO2 equivalent, approximately 24% of the total greenhouse gas footprint of households, equivalent to 1.9 tons of CO2 equivalent per person per year. It is therefore clear that reducing global greenhouse gas emissions from food is a necessary step towards achieving the 1.5°C target. Several studies have set a limit for greenhouse gas emissions from food production of between 0.5 and 0.75 tons of CO2 equivalent per capita, which represents a reduction of 61-74% compared to the current situation. Although these are significant percentages, it is theoretically possible to achieve this goal by following a diet rich in plant-based products and low in meat, and by reducing food waste.
These aspects call into question consumption habits in Switzerland, which will be the subject of research conducted by SUPSI with Lorenzo Di Lucia, lecturer and researcher at the Competence Centre for Management and Entrepreneurship, and Valentina Rotondi, professor of technology and public health at the Competence centre for care, health and society.
Specifically, the aim is to identify factors that can encourage changes in food consumption behavior in order to reduce the purchase and consumption of high-emission products.
The project aims to study the factors (social, economic, cultural, and institutional) that have characterized changes in meat consumption in the past, through the analysis of historical cases on the (excessive) consumption of red meat, poultry, and plant-based meat substitutes. To complement this part of the project, current consumer behavior will be studied to identify the decision-making mechanisms that characterize the purchase of meat and alternative products. Data will be collected in the sales areas of several large Swiss retailers. Participants in the survey will be equipped with wearable measuring devices that will measure physiological signals, providing real-time indications of emotional and cognitive activation. Finally, research activities will focus on studying how consumer decisions can be influenced in the near future by simulating future behaviors based on different scenarios. The results of the project will contribute to the development of innovative proposals for public policies to reduce the consumption of high-emission foods.
ACHIEVE
The ACHIEVE consortium is led by Empa as the host institution; its partners are three other institutions from the Federal Institutes of Technology sector – ETH Zurich, the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and WSL – as well as the University of Geneva, the Haute Ecole d'Ingénierie et de Gestion du Canton de Vaud (HEIG-VD), the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI), the University of Bern, the University of Neuchâtel, CLB Switzerland, the Risiko-Dialog Foundation, INFRAS, TBF+Partner, and Storra Dynamics GmbH. The total budget for the project is CHF 30.6 million, of which CHF 19.6 million is funded by the SWEET funding program. ACHIEVE started at the end of 2025 and will run for six years.