Global greenhouse gas accounting in food and agribusiness: Measuring to manage

Greenhouse Gas accounting in the food and agriculture sector is nothing new. Countries who have signed the Paris Agreement estimate their agricultural emissions annually through national reports, while voluntary supply chain (scope 3) commitments by corporates and new or upcoming regulatory disclosure requirements drive farm-level GHG accounting, on both company and product level. Scope 1 and 2 emissions are usually estimated first since they’re easier to measure, while scope 3 emissions are usually more difficult to measure, due to reasons like data quality and availability and knowledge gaps within the supply chain. However, scope 3 farming-related emissions can represent up to 70% of food, beverage, and agriculture (processing) companies’ total GHG emissions, making these a vital aspect in measuring a company’s GHG footprint. Many corporates use the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) guidance to measure their baseline emissions and pinpoint which scope 3 categories (such as purchased goods and services) are most material and therefore need to be considered in target setting. There are still challenges in estimating scope 3 emissions in the food and agriculture sector but the supply chain needs to work together to streamline measurement. Perfection should not stand in the way of progress and successful approaches must make farm-level data collection and GHG reductions part of a good business case for farmers.