Footprints 4 Food
The need for action and business benefit
The recent United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen demonstrated the urgent need for action on climate change. Good businesses distinguish between risks and opportunities. Climate change is a risk but also an opportunity.
By understanding the amount of greenhouse gases that different parts of your business emit you will be able to plan to reduce them, thereby cutting energy costs and reducing the impact of any future carbon taxes or legislation as well as increasing business efficiency.
How robust will the result be?
Footprints 4 Food Ltd offers a robust and reliable method to establish the carbon footprint of your products. The calculations are completed by experts from Bangor University to follow PAS 2050 and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2006 guidelines.
New carbon accounting guidelines
BSI releases a new PAS 2050 guidance, with some key changes for growers.
BSI (British Standards Institution) has released a new version of PAS 2050, the internationally recognised carbon footprinting standard used by Footprints4Food. Although many of the changes may be viewed as ‘minor ‘tweaks’, reflecting improvements in the scientific understanding, several are likely to have implications for horticultural and farming operations.
Land Use Change:
Emissions from land use change can be sizeable, especially where there is limited traceability of products. The previous guidelines required use of a ‘worst case scenario’ rating for such instances, which could lead to sizable additions to product carbon footprints. The new standard recommends applying a less punishing ‘average rating’ instead, and this is likely to bring down footprints where this has previously been an issue.
Land use emissions have also been extended to cover industrial operations, where previously they were only applicable to land use change for agricultural purposes.
Carbon removals and storage:
Provisions for incorporating carbon removal and storage into footprinting assessments (i.e. as emissions reductions) largely exclude food and animal feed products. However, farmers with areas of permanent grassland, natural woodland and/or unmanaged hedgerow many now be able to subtract carbon stored in these features from their overall farm product footprints.
Footprints4food, using Bangor University’s livestock farm model, have been providing an indication of this ‘carbon sequestration’ as an add-on to their whole-farm footprints. It is likely that this can now be incorporated into carbon footprints more fully, and this is being pursued by F4F currently.
Supplementary requirements:
The PAS 2050 revision recognises that some sectors, including horticulture, would benefit from additional guidance tailored to the specifics of the sector. With this in mind, a BSI-led horticulture working group is finalising a set of ‘supplementary requirements’ for the sector, that are due to be released shortly as PAS 2050-1. This work is still in progress, but it is likely that the release will provide guidance in terms of defining units of analysis, the treatment of co-products, setting system boundaries and the treatment of waste, among other things.
If you would like to know more about the implications of these changes for your own footprint, please free feel to get in touch with us.
Alternatively more information is available on the BSI website: http://www.bsigroup.com/en/about-bsi/News-Room/BSI-News-Content/General/Newly-revised-PAS-2050-poised-to-boost-international-efforts-to-carbon-footprint-products/
New carbon accounting guidelines- BSI releases a new PAS 2050 guidance, with some key changes for growers.
BSI (British Standards Institution) has released a new version of PAS 2050, the internationally recognised carbon footprinting standard used by Footprints4Food. Although many of the changes may be viewed as ‘minor ‘tweaks’, reflecting improvements in the scientific understanding, several are likely to have implications for horticultural and farming operations.
Land Use Change: Emissions from land use change can be sizeable, especially where there is limited traceability of products. The previous guidelines required use of a ‘worst case scenario’ rating for such instances, which could lead to sizable additions to product carbon footprints. The new standard recommends applying a less punishing ‘average rating’ instead, and this is likely to bring down footprints where this has previously been an issue.
Land use emissions have also been extended to cover industrial operations, where previously they were only applicable to land use change for agricultural purposes.
Carbon removals and storage:Provisions for incorporating carbon removal and storage into footprinting assessments (i.e. as emissions reductions) largely exclude food and animal feed products. However, farmers with areas of permanent grassland, natural woodland and/or unmanaged hedgerow many now be able to subtract carbon stored in these features from their overall farm product footprints.
Footprints4food, using Bangor University’s livestock farm model, have been providing an indication of this ‘carbon sequestration’ as an add-on to their whole-farm footprints. It is likely that this can now be incorporated into carbon footprints more fully, and this is being pursued by F4F currently.
Supplementary requirements:The PAS 2050 revision recognises that some sectors, including horticulture, would benefit from additional guidance tailored to the specifics of the sector. With this in mind, a BSI-led horticulture working group is finalising a set of ‘supplementary requirements’ for the sector, that are due to be released shortly as PAS 2050-1. This work is still in progress, but it is likely that the release will provide guidance in terms of defining units of analysis, the treatment of co-products, setting system boundaries and the treatment of waste, among other things.
If you would like to know more about the implications of these changes for your own footprint, please free feel to get in touch with us.
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