The sustainability consulting group Quantis has launched an initiative to develop Guidance on accounting for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from deforestation and other types of land use.
This pre-competitive global initiative aims to provide a methodological guide with credible references that companies can use to account for the climate change impacts of their efforts on sustainable forests and agriculture in an accurate and credible manner.
A group of leaders from diverse industries have already joined the initiative: Barry Callebaut, Ferrero, General Mills, Lenzing, L’Oreal, LVMH, Mars, Pirelli, Philip Morris International, Tetra Pak, and Yara as well as non-profits, governments, and academic institutions such as ADEME, C-AGG, CIRAD, Ecofys, Rainforest Alliance, South Pole Group, Textile Exchange, and The Sustainability Consortium.
“Companies understand the need to reduce the impacts of their supply chains and are increasingly interested in communicating about their efforts. Credible metrics are critical for achieving both,” Jon Dettling, Quantis US Managing Director and project lead explained. “A GHG accounting method that is conducive to corporate goal setting and supply chain management will allow companies to achieve progress and to communicate credibly on these efforts.”
The scientific community estimates that deforestation and impacts from land use account for over 20 per cent of GHG emissions. With pressure to set science-based GHG targets as well as to establish deforestation-free supply chains, organizations realize the urgent need for guidance on how to include GHG emissions from deforestation in corporate GHG goals.
“Mars is excited to be part of this initiative – we believe better and more consistent quantification of GHG emissions from deforestation will help accelerate global efforts to reduce both deforestation and GHG emissions,“ said Kevin Rabinovitch, Global Sustainability Director, Mars, Incorporated.
For companies dealing with products of agriculture and forestry, management of forests and other land types is often identified as one of the highest priorities for addressing climate change. To include emissions from deforestation and other types of land use within GHG reduction goals, guidance on how to measure this GHG impact and how to track progress over time is needed.
This initiative will fill this need by developing a Guidance on how to calculate GHG emissions from land use and land use change such as deforestation, and how to apply this within corporate supply chain assessments and product assessments, such as tracking changes and progress toward goals.
Image: Aidenvironment, 2006 – flickr:Riau flickr user:Wakx, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link