Bord Bia maps out pathways to net-zero carbon emissions

Bord Bia's Origin Green logo

Ireland’s national food and drink sustainability programme has outlined new requirements for producers to reduce carbon emissions.

It comes as a global study found that food systems are responsible for a third of greenhouse gases caused by humans.

Bord Bia's Origin Green, which works with more than 50,000 farms and 300 food and drink companies, said the new requirements in its Pathways to Net Zero programme "marks a significant shift" and will see member companies "go beyond reductions of energy-related emissions".

They will be required to undertake a comprehensive assessment of their entire carbon footprint, including examining emissions caused indirectly through the likes of transport.

Bord Bia said it is initially introducing this mandatory carbon emission target to Origin Green members with a turnover greater than €50m.

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Firms must do their assessments this year in order to determine emissions targets from 2022 onwards, Bord Bia said, with the plans to be reviewed and monitored annually.

Bord Bia said the plans would be independently verified by international specialists Mabbett. 

Origin Green director Deirdre Ryan said accelerating the transition to a zero-carbon economy by 2050 is required in order to "avoid the catastrophic impacts" of climate change. 

Business leaders are now shifting their focus from what is achievable to what needs to be done, and there has been increasing interest among Origin Green companies wishing to reduce emissions within their own operations and also along their supply chain," she said.

Bord Bia chief executive Tara McCarthy said Ireland's €13bn food and drink export industry has established "a hard-earned global reputation as a leading producer of high-quality sustainable food and drink".

Maintaining this reputation must continue to be evidence-based, she said, and is more important than ever in the face of continued global trading volatility. 

"But not at any cost," she said. 

We acknowledge that Ireland’s agri-food sector needs to do more, and faster."

The Origin Green programme has been criticised by environmental organisations in the past, with the Irish Wildlife Trust accusing it of "greenwashing" in 2017.

So-called 'greenwashing' is the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how environmentally sound a company's products are.

The new programme comes as a study published in Nature Food found that food systems are responsible for a third of greenhouse gases caused by human activity.

The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) compiled a new global food emission database estimating greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 to 2015. 

It is the first emission database of GHGs covering all countries and sectors of the food system, from production to disposal, the JRC said.

The study found that in 2015, food-system emissions amounted to 34% of total greenhouse emissions, with the largest contribution coming from agriculture and land use.

The remaining emissions were from the likes of retail, transport, consumption, fuel production, waste management, industrial processes, and packaging, it said.

On average, the food system produces two tonnes of carbon emissions per person every year.