Why does chocolate have a high carbon footprint?

The list of the top five most carbon intensive foods reads like this:

BeefLambCheeseChocolateCoffee

I’ve written a fair bit about the relative carbon footprints of foods, and I have mainly focused on meat and dairy. I’ve written specifically about beef and about cheese in the past, so it’s probably time I thought about the next one on the list: chocolate.  

What’s chocolate doing there? Why does it have such a high carbon footprint?

There is an obvious answer: mi...