Just 12 of North America's 50 largest food and beverage firms report on supply chain emissions, Ceres report finds
Only a small fraction of America's largest food and beverage companies are adequately monitoring emissions from their supply chains, missing opportunities to drive further emissions cuts and threatening the long-term viability of their business models.
That is the conclusion of a new paper released today by investor backed non-profit Ceres, which has used greenhouse gas emissions data from CDP to assess how well 50 of NOrth America's largest food companies are tracing and reducing their Scope 3 emissions.
Just 15 of the companies assessed report on their Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, meaning they report both on emissions from within their own operations, but also those caused by activities further down their supply chain. The companies providing comprehensive emissions reporting include AB InBev, Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Co, Unilever and Danone.
Scope 3 emissions are particularly important for the food and drink sector as on average they accounted for 86 per cent of the total emissions output of the companies analysed.
Given supply chains significant role in a company's emissions profile, Ceres warned other firms in the cohort are missing out on an "outsize opportunity" to mitigate their vulnerability to climate change and climate policies.
The report also stresses how food and beverage companies are, through their supply chains, particularly exposed to the impacts of climate change such as changing weather patterns, including more extreme temperatures and increased incidence of drought and flooding.
A lack of focus on Scope 3 emissions could also make firms more vulnerable to increased costs from new climate policies, and pressure from shareholders and consumers, Ceres added.
"The failure of most top food and beverage companies to adequately monitor, disclose on, and reduce Scope 3 emissions from agriculture poses substantial material risk, particularly in light of the growing necessity to assess and address threats and opportunities in exposure to the impacts of climate change, and increasing stakeholder demand for greater corporate transparency on ESG principles," the report notes.
The paper coincides with the release of the latest Food Sustainability Index from the Economist Intelligence Unit this week, which once more named France as the best country for food sustainability.
France retained its title for the third year in a row thanks to its efforts to reduce food waste, promote sustainable agriculture practices, and address nutritional challenges, EIU said.
The UK, by comparison, ranked 24th this year out of a total of 67, while the United Arab Emirates scored the lowest in the ranking.
Martin Koehring, managing editor at The Economist Intelligence Unit, stressed the importance of sustainable food systems for meeting the UN's global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
"Sustainable food systems are vital for achieving the SDGs by 2030," he said. "There are strong connections between the SDGs and the three core dimensions of food systems: economic, social and environmental. Our research allows for comparison between countries and food-system indicators and highlights best practices that food-system stakeholders - including policymakers, civil society organisations, the private sector, academia and research, and the media - can use to design roadmaps toward more sustainable food systems and ultimately the SDGs."