5 strategies to help big food manufacturers reduce their carbon footprints

Climate action is gaining momentum among ADM, General Mills and other food giants. Yet they can only take their decarbonization plans so far without prioritizing Scope 3 supply chain emissions, according to nonprofit advocacy group Ceres.

Sixty percent of the biggest emitters in food and agriculture have been lessening their greenhouse gas footprints over the past two years. Their emissions are also falling from the base years against which they set targets to do so, according to Ceres’ Sept. 17 report “Taking Stock: The State of Climate Action and Disclosure in the Food Sector.” 

The Boston-based organization’s findings summarize how the 50 highest-emitting food businesses are faring with their decarbonization plans. Such efforts are key to reaching the targets of the Paris Agreement. The food industry contributes to more than one-third of global climate emissions, according to a 2021 study in the journal Nature Food.

“Scope 3 emissions can represent upwards of 90 percent of the emissions of food companies,” said Meryl Richards, program director of food and forests at Ceres. Mitigating these emissions is hard but possible, and companies should not cop to its difficulty as an excuse for a lack of progress, she added. “The problem is that too few food companies are reporting that they are taking those timely and necessary steps to reduce them.”

It’s all about Scope 3

Ceres delved into recent disclosures and climate actions by the corporations belonging to its Food Emissions 50 initiative. Through that effort, more than 35 investors, from Achmea to Vancity, pressure the sector’s highest emitters to enact science-based emissions targets and climate transition plans.

For example, As You Sow, one member of the Food Emissions 50, said Sept. 24 that a proposal it filed, asking General Mills to disclose how regenerative agriculture practices affect pesticide use, gained support from 28 percent of the company’s shareholders.

Thirty-one of the 50 companies have knocked down their greenhouse gas pollution across Scopes 1 and 2, Ceres found. 

One tactic is to invest in energy efficiencies and renewable energy to make near term emissions effects, according to the report. Westchester, Illinois-based food and beverage company Ingredion replaced coal power in its plants with renewables. That helped to shrink its Scopes 1 and 2 emissions by 22 percent over its base year, the report noted. 

Indirect Scope 3 emissions, on the other hand, are by their nature slippier to reduce.

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Companies are making steady progress to lighten their direct emissions, across Scopes 1 and 2, yet failure to act on Scope 3 is holding them back. In addition, Ceres found: 

• Fourteen of the 31 companies whose direct emissions dropped either grew or failed to reduce their GHG emissions. 
• Companies with science-based targets for Scopes 1, 2 and 3 were the most likely to have reduced emissions.
• Those that have not set science-based Scope 3 targets did not see overall emissions fall. 
• Scope 3 supply chain progress is lagging overall. And when Scope 3 emissions rose significantly, so did total overall emissions.

“Scope 3 emissions are notoriously challenging to tackle because they involve complex and often global supply chains, where companies have less visibility and direct control,” said Dan Blaustein-Rejto, director of food & agriculture at the Breakthrough Institute. He was not involved in the Ceres study.

In the meantime, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in April reported a nearly 2 percent drop in agricultural emissions from 2021 to 2022. The Farm Bureau attributed this to farmers adopting more climate-friendly practices.

Blaustein-Rejto disagreed. “Instead, the drop largely happened because widespread drought forced many ranchers to reduce their cattle herds, directly lowering emissions,” he said. Drought is among the climate-related disruptions that pose risks to corporations’ supply chains and overall operations. 

5 ways to shrink Scope 3 emissions

“Meeting companies’ ambitious Scope 3 goals will require more quickly developing and scaling up low-carbon innovations, such as low-emission fertilizers, methane-reducing cattle feeds, and higher quality alternative proteins that make it more appealing for people to shift away from high-emission foods,” said Blaustein-Rejto.

Based upon its observations of companies progressing past disclosures into measurable actions, Ceres detailed the following five behaviors:

1. Disclose minute details about emissions:

Instead of lumping Scope 3 purchased goods and services into one sum, some corporations are breaking the category down further. 

Who’s doing this?: ADM’s 2022 sustainability report offers such Scope 3 details as: 42 percent are in an “other” category that includes fertilizer use; 37 percent derive from land use change and 20 percent of Scope 3 originates from transportation, packaging and other non-land-emissions. Regenerative agriculture and satellite mapping are among the Chicago-based company’s approaches.

2. Create precise targets to shrink ‘land-based’ emissions:

The greenhouse gases emitting from activities related to Forests, Land, and Agriculture (FLAG) create the biggest chunk of climate impacts for food businesses. Those should be a major target to reduce, in line with the Science-based Targets initiative.

Who’s doing this?: McDonald’s, headquartered in Chicago, and Hershey, of Hershey, Pennsylvania, are on this. 

3. Act on methane:

Methane packs a wallop in its power to warm the planet, responsible for 16 percent of emissions. Nearly one-third of that originates from dairy operations. That’s why nine corporations with lots of milk and other dairy products in their supply chains joined the Dairy Methane Action Alliance in December. 

Who’s doing this?: Minneapolis-based General Mills, Chicago’s Kraft Heinz and Seattle-based Starbucks.

4. Support powerful policies:

More companies are backing legislation that encourages sustainability in the food sector, including in their individual companies. Supporters of the Enteric Methane Innovation Tools for Lower Emissions and Sustainable Stock Act include. The EMIT LESS Act, for short, would help the US Department of Agriculture research methane and incentivize farm conservation, if it became a law.

Who’s doing this?: McDonald’s and the Kansas City-based Dairy Farmers of America have lobbied for the bill.

5. Collaborate on shared aspirations:

Some corporations are putting their heads together on unique projects that benefit each, and potentially even competitors. To slim the Scope 3 emissions from wheat for Cheez-It crackers, they’re engaging in a test program that helps North Carolina farmers with regenerative agriculture techniques.

Who’s doing this?: Belgian retail giant Ahold Delhaize and Kellanova of Chicago, formerly known as Kellogg’s.