Industry body publishes net-zero pathway for Europe’s food and drink sector

FoodDrinkEurope has published a net-zero pathway for the sector, which it says would exceed the ambitions of the Science-Based Target initiative (SBTi) by 30%. 

The industry body says its members could align with the pathway if they were given “more concerted support from policy and investment communities”. 

Among the biggest drivers of emissions it identifies are fertilisers, land use and energy consumption. 

“We can channel government and industry efforts towards implementing GHG reduction and removal interventions that map onto these emissions drivers to support the sector’s delivery of net zero,” said FoodDrinkEurope. 

Interventions like renewables procurement, switching to low-till farming techniques, and using organic fertilisers could be supported by financial incentives and de-risking measures, it continued.   

“Ner Zero Pathway calculations showed that key interventions could achieve an 85% reduction in overall baseline emissions by 2050, which is 29.8% lower than the SBTi Net Zero target,” according to the report. 

“To enable the interventions’ fullest potential and achieve emission reductions for the Net Zero pathway, the right policy framework is needed: we must consider the wider context in which we are enacting change and the levers to support this.”

The pathway comes just one month after the Hong Kong Monetary Authority published a guide to financing climate transition plans in the technology sector. 

That report “examines how existing international guidance and frameworks on transition finance and transition plan disclosures can be applied in practice in the ICT sector in Hong Kong and in the broader Asia Pacific region”.