THE United Nations has indicated that on the matters of environment and climate change, breastfeeding has a significant impact on the survival of mothers and their babies.
According to a press release prepared by the Maternal, Infant & Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN) Taskforce, Ministry of Health Brunei Darussalam, this can be linked to the following United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation); SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy); SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities); SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production); SDG 13 (climate action); SDG 14 (life below water) and SDG 15 (life on land).
Breastfeeding is the first practical step we can take to protect not only the health of the babies and mothers but also the health of our planet by providing green and sustainable nourishment to babies right from the start. Breastfeeding protects our environment by many means. Breast milk is a “natural, renewable food” that is environmentally safe and produced. It is also delivered to the consumer without causing pollution, packaging or waste. Whereas formula milk production and utilisation generate greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions which accelerate global warming and also produce pollution and toxic emissions from garbage disposals. Although not yet quantifiable in monetary terms, there are environmental costs associated with opting to not breastfeed babies.
For example, it is known that 720,450 tonnes of milk formula are sold in six Asian countries and all have generated almost 2.9 million tonnes of GHG. This is equivalent to nearly 7000 million miles driven by an average passenger vehicle or 1.03 million tonnes of wastes sent to landfill sites. Other than that, it is estimated that more than 4,000 litres of water are needed to produce one kilogramme of breast milk substitute’s powder. This in turn leads to the further depletion of water supply that is already scarce.
Breastfeeding means less GHG, environmental degradation and pollution. This is because it helps the transition to a low-carbon economy from one based on fossil fuels. No electricity is needed to produce breast milk and it requires no fuel for transport, thus reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, which is the principle GHG.
Breastfeeding also helps reduce harmful environmental impacts caused by formula feeding. Trash, garbage, refuse, rubbish, waste – whatever we call it, formula feeding produces tonnes of it! Plastic bottles may take 450 years to biodegrade, while tin and aluminium cans use energy to recycle. Waste that is not recycled, fills up landfill sites and clogs incinerators which burn less efficiently. In turn, this contributes to global warming and consequently to climate change, with some level of catastrophic results.
Actions to reduce these impacts involve including breastfeeding in any list of actions to reduce our carbon and water footprints and including breastfeeding in the awareness campaign for climate change. A carbon footprint is the total amount of GHG emissions caused by a product or a person in any human activity that we do, considering all relevant sources. Whereas a water footprint measures the amount of water used to produce each of the goods and services we use. Other actions to be included in that list would also be to forego artificial or formula feeding, as it too has an impact on the environment, as aforementioned above.
In conclusion, breastfeeding has impacts on slowing down environmental degradation caused by pollution and climate change. It is 100 per cent sustainable, hardly uses any of our planet’s increasingly scarce land and water resources, emits no greenhouse gases and leads to no waste. Therefore we must protect, promote, support and value breastfeeding, as it ensures all babies and young children receive the most adequate nutrition and protection against infections in all settings. – Ministry of Health
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