Carbon accounting and good agricultural management: Unilever and the Cool Farmmanagement: Unilever and the Cool Farm Institute

Emma Keller, Unilever

GIZ, Kiev, Ukraine25th October 2012

Let’s talk about……

1. Unilever and carbon accountingg

2. Sustainable sourcing ambitionsg

3. Challenges in agricultural carbon accountingg g g

4. The Cool Farm Tool4. The Cool Farm Tool

5. Case studies: good management practices5. Case studies: good management practices

UNILEVER AND CARBON ACCOUNTING

Company targets

HELP

1 BILLION HALVESOURCE

100%1 BILLION PEOPLE IMPROVE

THEIR HEALTH

HALVEENVIRONMENTAL

FOOTPRINT OFOUR PRODUCTS

100% OF AGRICULTURAL RAW MATERIALS

& WELLBEING OUR PRODUCTS SUSTAINABLY

SEAC

Reducing our total value chain impacts

GREENHOUSE GASES WASTEWATER

OUR DIRECT IMPACTS ARE SMALL ONLY 3%‐43% ‐63%‐75% SMALL ‐ ONLY 3%

CO2 from energy use(kg/tonne production)

Water use(m3/tonne production)

Waste(kg/tonne production)

43% 63%75%

DISPOSALDISTRIBUTION

/ RETAILRAW MATERIALS CONSUMER USEMANUFACTURE

1%2%26% 68%3%

Upstream carbon accounting

Source: http://www.sustainable-living.unilever.com

● Significant proportion of impact is in the upstream agricultural supply chain

P i l itt d f t● Previously omitted from corporate GHG inventories

● Own data for Life-cycle assessments?Source: www. Walkerscarbonfootprint.co.uk

SEAC

Agriculture is important to Unilever

50%fof our raw

materials come f i lfrom agriculture

Our top agricultural materials

● We source significant amounts of the worlds proportion of some keyproportion of some key crops

● Target to ensure all are d t i blsourced sustainably

SUSTAINABLE SOURCING AMBITIONS

WHY DOES SUSTAINABLE SOURCING MATTER?

High HighWe have a big footprint in an area of limited control.

High High

e Foot

prin

t

Influ

ence

nmen

tal F

nile

ver’s

Envi

ron

U

Low Natural Transportation Manufacturing Product Consumers Low

SUPPLY CHAIN

Low Natural Resources

Transportation ManufacturingDistribution

Consumers Low

Our definition of sustainable agriculture

Sustainable agriculture aims to deliver (sufficient) rawg ( )materials from production systems that:

Hi h lit i ld• High quality yields• Optimal resource use• Reduce environmental impact• Contribute to better rural livelihoods

AND help Unilever to reduce the footprint of our rawAND help Unilever to reduce the footprint of our raw materials (e.g. eliminate deforestation from our value chains))

Two options for implementation

Certification VerificationCertification• In or out• Do’s and don’ts

Verification• Measured improvement• Action plans

• Independent• The seal is the story

p• Unilever driven• Tell your own stories

• System costs • Value chain investment

*See latest version of scheme rules

Certification

• Recognise and acknowledge certain certification schemes

• Benchmark standards against our code

• Helps to avoid duplication of effort.

Self verification – sustainable agriculture code

St d d f U il t i bl• Standard of Unilever sustainable agriculture

• Applicable to all our agricultural raw materials

• Used as a standard and to monitor suppliers progress towards

t i bl i ltsustainable agriculture.

Chapters of the SAC

Continuous improvement Wasteimprovement

Agrochemicals and Energy and

Click on links for more information on scope and general

fuels

S il

Greenhouse gases

Social and human

general content

Soils Social and human capital

V l h i d l lW t Value chain and local economy

Water

Biodiversity Animal welfare

Training

CHALLENGES OF FARM GHG ACCOUNTING

Challenges at the farm level

● Robust Science and methodology● Robust Science and methodology

● Complexity variability and uncertainty● Complexity, variability and uncertainty

● Data capture and distribution● Data capture and distribution

● Practical farm level methods to combine management● Practical farm-level methods to combine management and measurement

Where are the big uncertainties?

Machinery/equipment manufacture , fertiliser/pesticide production

Pre-farmfertiliser/pesticide production

Machinery use

CO2 emissions from soils

Nitrous oxide, methane from soilsUp to harvestLivestock emissions, e.g. enteric fermentation from cattle

Manure management, compost

Primary processing, e.g. drying, milling, chilling, storagePost har est

TransportationgPost harvest

Consumer use

finished product production, package, cooking, waste disposal

Agricultural GHG Calculators

● Many agricultural GHG calculators exist● Many agricultural GHG calculators exist

Tool name Developer CountryCALM Circle Squared Ltd UKCALM Circle Squared Ltd UKClimate Yardstick CLM NLFarmGas Australian Farm Institute AustraliaPalm GHG (Henson and Chase) RSPO GlobalDairy Footprinter Scottish Government ScotlandGHG Farm Agriculture and Agri-foods

CanadaCanada

C-Plan See 360 Ltd UKC Plan See 360 Ltd UKDAYCENT Colorado University USCool Farm Tool UoA, Unilever, SFL GlobalRSB GHG Tool RSB Global

THE COOL FARM TOOL

The Cool Farm Tool Available for download: www.coolfarmtool.org

● Farmer focused ‘tier 2’ tool for on-farm GHG balance

● Generic, globally applicable

● Practical and management focused offering decision support

● Allows exploration of mitigation options

● Data: farmers know and can complete on farm combined with robust empirical d t d ldata models

Cool Farm Tool data inputs

LivestockFarm energy SequestrationFertilizer emissions Livestock emissions

GHG emissions i i f

Farm energy

Emissions from:o Electricity

Di l d i

Sequestration

GHG emissions sequestered from:

L d U h

Fertilizer emissions

GHG emissions arising from:

F tili t arising from:o Feedo Manure management

o Diesel used in field

o sprayingo tillage

oLand Use changesoManagement changes

oTillageC

o Fertilizer typeo Fertilizer nutrient/productoFertilizer application

tg

o Livestock management and productive phases

goharvesting oCover

croppingoCompostoManure

T l t d

rateo Fertilizer application methodo Emissions related t t l i bi lT t oTrees plantedto natural microbial conversion of N in the soil, in which N2O can be lost to th t h

Transport energy

Emissions from:o Road

the atmosphere.

o (Other agrichemicals included also –pesticide applications)

o Railo Airo Ship

pesticide applications)

Using the tool

LCM 2011

Berlin 28th – 31st August Emma Keller, University of Surrey and Unilever

Management (and mitigation) options

Current Reduced N application

Introduce no till Just converted from woodland

LCM 2011

Berlin 28th – 31st August Source: Jon Hillier’s presentation - 2011

CASE STUDIES

Cool Farming options (GACA – Global agricultural climate assessment)

● A number of companies and sponsors involved:

● Covering a range of farming systems and geographies:sponsors involved: systems and geographies:

LCM 2011

Berlin 28th – 31st August Source: www.sustainablefood.org

Project locations.

Canada Azerbaijan

Germany

j

USA

IndiaJamaica

GuatemalaEgypt

ColombiaKenya

Nicaragua

Tanzania

What’s unique about this project?

1Project arc spans from practical actions at field and farm level to creative supply chain solutions.

Project arcs from practical actions at field & farm level to

creative supply chain solutions.

Project arcs from practical actions at field & farm level to influencing the policy framework.2Jointly improved calculator that balances pragmatism and precision, with high management sensitivity.

3F f h t b d thi fi ld i thi l3Farmer focus: what can be done on this field, in this place.

4Shared learning among a global consortium of food sector leaders on the GHG mitigation potential of key agricultural systemson the GHG mitigation potential of key agricultural systems.

Example Darjeeling/India

● Tea cooperatives:Current situation:– Current situation:

– 30-40% yield cuts in the last 5-10 years– 7-800 kg of pruning material annually

left for aerobic decay– 5-8 tons of cow manure per year

left on pits for 1 year (+) and then used in vegetablesleft on pits for 1 year (+) and then used in vegetables● The emissions were assessed and calculated with the

CFT within 1 hour during an onsite visit● the CFT model showed 30% emission reduction

through composting due to increased SOM● 1 year later production went up by 20% through● 1 year later production went up by 20% through

making carbon dynamics easy and obvious, using local resources

Training Indian tea growers on using available biomass (manure & pruning) for composting…

29/10/2012 www.soilandmore.com 30

CO2 Emission Sequestration•30% CO2 Reduction•Improving water holding capacity by up to 40%

after implementing composting

29/10/2012 31

Baselining – tomato growers (California)

● Yields between 45 63 t45-63 tons per acre

● GHG footprints range between 18 42 kg18-42 kg CO2e/ton product

● Similar emissionemission hotspots

The Potato CFT in use

● Part of PepsiCo’s ‘50 in 5’ initiative● Part of PepsiCo s  50 in 5  initiative

● Trialled with over 60 farmers in UK and Europe● Trialled with over 60 farmers in UK and Europe

● Robust results comparable to other studies

PepsiCo’s Carbon Footprint calculations socalculations so far.

The Cool Farm Institutee Coo a s u e

• Collaborative independent not‐for‐profit organisation 

• Mission: enable millions of growers globally to make more informed on‐farm decisions that reduce their environmentalinformed on farm decisions that reduce their environmental impact.

lf t l d t t t• see: www.coolfarmtool.org and contact us at info.coolfarmtool.com

Thank youy

Comments and questions?

Contact: emma.keller@unilever.com