According to DairyReporter, experts from the food and beverage industry in New Zealand and academia have expressed mixed reactions to Fonterra's recently announced Climate Roadmap, urging simultaneous collaboration at the farmer level over new technology.

A New Climate Roadmap

New Zealand's dairy product giant, Fonterra, recently announced its new climate roadmap, aiming for a "30% overall reduction in on-farm emissions" by 2030, compared to the 2018 baseline.

According to Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell, this strategy is a response to public demands for increased sustainability demonstration in the dairy product industry.

"As a dairy partner for many of the world's top food companies, we are responding to the growing sustainability ambitions of customers and financial institutions, along with increased market access, legal, and reporting obligations," he said.

"Our collective efforts to reduce emissions – from the farm, within our operations, and by our research and development teams – will help Fonterra showcase the future.

"We expect this new target to be achieved in several ways, including a 7% reduction through best farming practices, a 7% reduction through new technologies we are developing [in collaboration with the government] and other partnerships; an 8% reduction by removing carbon from vegetation and 8% from the historical conversion of land use to dairy products."

Positive Responses

Industry players have largely shown a positive response to the Climate Roadmap, such as local heavyweights Nestle New Zealand.

"Nestlé has been sourcing dairy products from New Zealand for over a century; we will continue to support farmers alongside our partners to develop new economic opportunities and reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said Jennifer Chappell, CEO of Nestle New Zealand.

"This Fonterra move will encourage even greater actions from farmers, researchers, and decision-makers in support of a fair transition for the dairy product industry.

"Nestle will play our part by prioritizing our sourcing from farmers involved in emission reduction, providing technical assistance, and paying a premium for their products."

Nestle and Fonterra are currently involved in several sustainability-focused initiatives, including nutrient management in crops to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, developing profitable agriculture with net-zero emissions, planting a million native plants on farms to sequester carbon, and more.

"Dairy production is our largest source of greenhouse gas emissions; therefore, we must work with dairy farmers and their communities to achieve our goal, while also supporting a fair transition," she emphasized.

Doubts about Efficiency

On the flip side, doubts about the efficiency of the roadmap in quantitatively reducing carbon emissions have emerged, largely spurred by the company's choice to target "intensity reduction" rather than "absolute reduction."

"Intensity reduction" targets measure emissions against a specific physical or economic measure – in this case, Fonterra aims to reduce emissions intensity by one ton of FPCM (fat and protein-corrected milk) it collects.

These are generally considered more flexible than the "absolute reduction" targets recommended by the United Nations, which measure the reduction of emissions by a set amount over a specified period – this is because there are many types of operational changes that could eventually affect the eventual number, from mergers to increased sales, and so on.

"One of the significant issues with the targets Fonterra has set is that they have chosen to adopt intensity targets rather than absolute targets [as] there is a chance that Fonterra could increase these emissions overall while still being efficient in relation to the intensity measure," said Professor Sara Walton, co-director of the Otago Climate Change Research Network, in an official statement.

Evidence Required

"It's good to hear that Fonterra has launched a roadmap for their transition and re-evaluated their emission targets, but the results and claims like 'one of the most efficient dairy producers at scale' will need to be evidence-based to avoid the risk associated with greenwashing," she added.

Professor Craig Bunt, Director of the Agricultural Innovation Program at the University of Otago, expressed concern about the company's focus on new technologies, instead calling for greater collaboration with farmers actively working in this sector.

"Fonterra's climate plans are a commendable step toward addressing environmental concerns in New Zealand's agricultural sector, but raise questions about the apparent dependence on technologies that have not yet been proven in the agricultural system," he said.

"A significant portion (7%) of this target has been allocated to new technologies, and the complexity of the agricultural sector promotes the universal approach that involves dependence on these technologies.

"Fonterra must ensure it works closely with farmers to develop and successfully implement these technologies, recognizing the uniqueness of each agricultural system.

This cooperative approach will be essential for achieving the goals while minimizing possible disruptions and challenges that farmers may face."