Thursday, 21 September 2023 09:25

Scope 3 target coming

Written by  Sudesh Kissun
Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell. Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell.

Fonterra says it will announce an on-farm emissions target (Scope 3 target) by the end of this year.

Chief executive Miles Hurrell says it has been in talks with farmers on the need to introduce such a target, which will aim to reduce emissions behind the farmgate.

“As we work towards our ambition to be a leader in sustainability, we have stepped up our emissions reduction goal for the operational side of our business, introducing a target of a 50% absolute reduction in Scope 1&2 emissions by 2030, from a 2018 baseline, an increase on our previous target of a 30% reduction by 2030,” Hurrell says.

“We have held discussions with our farmers on why we need to introduce a Scope 3, or on-farm emissions target, and plan to announce our target before the end of calendar year 2023.”

The co-op had initially planned to release its Scope 3 target in June.

However, timing is important, says Hurrell.

"We acknowledge that farmers have been under a lot of pressure right now. With this in mind, we decided to delay introducing a Scope 3 target by a few months."

Fonterra released its long-term strategy in September 2021. Hurrell says since then, the co-op has made good progress towards its 2030 goals.

“Across FY23, we completed the divestment of China Farms and Soprole as part of our strategic choice to focus on New Zealand milk.

“We’re also progressing work in our innovation portfolio, including establishing our joint venture with Royal DSM, Vivici, which is exploring commercial opportunities in fermentation derived ingredients, and launching our corporate ventures arm Nutrition Science Solution (NSS), which made its first strategic investment in the form of a minority stake in Pendulum Inc, a biotech company specialising in metabolic health.

“To assist us to hit our short and long-term goals, we are implementing a range of projects that will streamline how we operate. To track our progress, we have introduced two new metrics.”

These are:

  • Cash operating expenses per kgMS – targeting a 4% cash operating cost improvement per year to support long-term discipline in our global overheads.
  • Gross profit from core operations per kgMS – targeting a 2% New Zealand operational cash cost improvement every year to support efficient New Zealand operations while remaining laser focused on delivering value.

“We are also updating our long-term strategy and plan to share this early next year,” says Hurrell.

More like this

Fonterra R&D: Innovation needs more than just PhDs

Common sense and good human judgement are still a key requirement for the super highly qualified staff working at one of New Zealand's largest and most important research facilities - Fonterra's R&D Centre at Palmerston North.

Misguided campaign

OPINION: Last week, Greenpeace lit up Fonterra's Auckland headquarters with 'messages from the common people' - that the sector is polluting the environment.

Featured

Horticulture exports hit $8.4B, surge toward $10B by 2029

A brilliant result and great news for growers and regional economies. That's how horticulture sector leaders are describing the news that sector exports for the year ended June 30 will reach $8.4 billion - an increase of 19% on last year and is forecast to hit close to $10 billion in 2029.

National

Machinery & Products

Farming smarter with technology

The National Fieldays is an annual fixture in the farming calendar: it draws in thousands of farmers, contractors, and industry…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

110,000 visitors!

OPINION: It's official, Fieldays 2025 clocked 110,000 visitors over the four days.

Sticky situation

OPINION: The Federated Farmers rural advocacy hub at Fieldays has been touted as a great success.

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter