Nutreco announced that it has committed to adopting Science Based Targets, reflecting the company’s continuing drive to achieve its mission of Feeding the Future and help the world produce enough nutritious and high-quality food for its growing population in a sustainable way.
Nutreco has joined the global ranks of 850 other leading companies by signing a letter of commitment with the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI) indicating that the company will work to set a science-based emission reduction target. A global collaboration between CDP, the World Resources Institute, World Wide Fund for Nature and the United Nations Global Compact, the SBTI champions science-based target setting to boost companies’ competitive advantage in the transition to a low-carbon economy.
“The SBTI is helping companies to align their carbon reduction strategies with the objectives of the 2015 Paris Agreement, and we’re pleased to join the initiative, together with other companies that are leading the way,” said Nutreco CEO Rob Koremans. “We are working to set realistic yet ambitious reduction targets and plan to submit them for SBTI approval before the end of the year.”
According to the SBTI process, companies first publicly commit to setting Science Based Targets (SBT). After that, they have two years to set reduction targets for Scope 1, 2 and 3 CO2 emissions: Scope 1 relates to energy generated on-site, Scope 2 relates to energy purchased and Scope 3 covers energy use that takes in the supply chain. Finally, participating companies pledge to report on their progress annually.
“The requirement to influence Scope 3 emissions – and the domino effect this has in the value chain – is what makes SBT so interesting and challenging,” says Nutreco Sustainability Director José Villalon. “For example, if grocery retailers commit to SBT, this means their meat suppliers must submit their CO2 reductions each year, and on down the value chain to feed and finally premix suppliers. So, eventually, companies across the chain will need to get on the SBT bandwagon to maintain their relationships with customers, helping to drive change throughout our industry.”
