Sustainability Reporting for Food Systems: Climate, ESG, Circular

Sustainability Reporting for Food Resources: Climate Mitigation, Carbon, Greenhouse Gases & Investment Risk, ESG, Circular Economy.

Topics:

Sustainability Metrics (KPIs) for Reporting
Climate, GHG Management, Adaptation, Circular Economy
Climate and Financial Risk Reporting
Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Sustainability Metrics (KPIs) for Reporting

Consumers want to better understand the environmental and social impacts of the products they are buying.

Environmental impacts may include climate change, water use, resource use, sustainability…).

Social impacts may include diversity, human rights, animal welfare…).

Is an organization meeting its climate change mitigation goals? An organization’s GHG emissions can be reported under Scope 1 Emissions (i.e., direct emissions from their operations), Scope 2 emissions (i.e., indirect emissions from an electrical grid), or Scope 3 emissions (i.e., upstream emissions from their suppliers).

In specific scenarios, Scope 3 emissions may represent a major component that are both challenging to understand, quantify and encourage reduction.

The use of common metrics helps provide the transparency needed to describe product and supply chain sustainability. Science-based and stakeholder reviewed metrics are being defined to provide key performance indicators (KPIs) for various products.

Examples of organization initiatives include:

The Sustainability Consortium provides metrics for:

Food, Beverage and Agriculture
Packaging
Paper, Pulp & Forestry
Electronics, and other industry sectors
Ag Metrics Task Force is an effort to better understand the data flows and report on sustainability impacts throughout food value chains.

Various organizations have established sustainability initiatives for – coffee, seafood, sugar, soy, palm oil, speciality crops, rice, dairy …

Climate, GHG Management, Adaptation, Circular Economy

Various international standards have and are being developed:

Greenhouse Gas Management (Quantifying & Reporting, Project, Validation & Verification), Carbon Footprint, Climate Adaptation (Vulnerability, Impacts, Risks), Finance & Investments, Climate Neutrality (in-progress)…
Circular Economy (in-progress).

Science-based targets indicate how much and how quickly organizations need to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

There is a growing trend for more transparency and accurate reporting of the risks that climate change poses to organizations.

Please refer to:

Climate and Financial Risk Reporting

Climate-related financial disclosure: Investors and stakeholders are asking firms to publicly disclose how their businesses will be impacted by climate change and the impact that government policies will have on future operations.

Financial risks include higher or lower mispricing, credit default risk, volatility, uncertainty, long-term risks and adjusted returns, resource materials stranded assets, financial stranded assets.

Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) Reporting measure the sustainability and ethical impacts of an investment within a company.

Corporations need to report on and meet various sustainability goals as mandatory requirements for financing and being recommended as climate safe investments by investment advisors. Global food production and consumption generates high carbon, water, and nutrient footprints.

Priority areas include meeting the Paris Agreement 2015 and keeping temperature rise below 1.5 degree Celsius, UN Sustainability Goals, and achieving sustainable agri-food systems.

Examples of reporting requirements for climate, sustainability, and stakeholders follow:

Sustainability reporting helps to lead the movement to a green economy and green recovery from disruptions.

Knowledge on Responsible Investing

Providing knowledge for sustainable change and reporting:

Responsible Investor

Responsible Company

Additional Information

For more information, please refer to Education.

Last Modified: May 17, 2024

BriCASFR