How do sustainability strategies help to mitigate against a limited supply of resources?

Gabriella Zahzouh, Global Environmental Manager, British American Tobacco
“As we rely extensively on natural resources, our strategies help us to forecast future scarcity issues and ensure supply and demand is in balance. Our local reforestation programmes are good examples. We understand through local assessments, what fuels are used for curing our tobacco and it is vital to us to ensure that our farmers have a ready and sustainable supply available to them year over year without negatively impacting the biodiversity around us all.”

Rodolphe d’Arjuzon, Global Head of Research and Development, Verdantix
“These strategies help you to understand exposure so that you can create sensible risk management plans. They also help you to know your suppliers so that you can work with them. There is a lot of this going on in the food sector. Companies such as Unilever, Nestle, and PepsiCo have created programmes to directly engage, teach and support their agricultural suppliers. It also improves the robustness of weak links in the chain. For example, working directly with farmers on better irrigation methods can help conserve water while boosting yield.”


Robert Gabriel, Director of Corporate Sustainability, PE INTERNATIONAL
“Any sustainability strategy will include the management of energy and material resources in its core. Understanding consumption, efficiencies and sourcing of resources are keys to evaluating and reducing the risks related to limited resource availability and price increases. In addition, a proper sustainability strategy will also address the opportunities to increase the competitive edge, whether by driving the top line with green product portfolios, or by growing the bottom line with the reduction of resource-related production costs.”

Australian Dairy study to establish industry´s carbon-cred

The Australian subsidiary of PE  is conducting a Life Cycle Assessment to establish the Australian dairy industry´s carbon footprint. The study aims to quantitatively evaluate the carbon footprint from a systems analysis point of view, i.e. farm-to-distributor´s warehouse or export harbour and focuses on the major dairy products produced for export and retail. Once completed in 2012, the assessment will identify the life-cycle phases with the highest environmental impact and highlight areas of potential improvement along the supply chain.

In the magazine Food & Drink Business, Neil van Buuren, the project leader, states “The study will generate a reliable basis for carbon footprinting, environmental product reporting and product labelling, for example environmental product declarations and carbon-reduction labels. It will enable benchmarking at both the farm and the corporate level to help drive best practice.”

More widely, it will support strategic decision-making to promote a more competitive Australian dairy industry and build the basis for sustainable leadership.

Australia is being told that it needs to increase its food supply by 50% by 2050 without increasing the amount of resources it uses. “All food production comes at an environmental cost and CO2 emissions arise at all points of supply chain,” van Buuren says.” This study is part of the dairy industry´s response to that challenge.”

For more information please contact Barbara Nebel

Learn from the best – Best practice in applied LCA and Carbon Footprinting

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Carbon Footprinting (CF) have moved from the shadows into the limelight; a strategic tool for sustainability leaders like Apple, Alcan Packaging, Carbon Trust, Volkswagen, and more. Experts from these extremely successful companies will share their success factors and expertise with you at the

“Best practice in applied LCA and Carbon Footprinting” Symposium, taking place on October 28th in Stuttgart, Germany


WHAT YOU GET

• Success factors – the real facts that count behind their success stories. How Life Cycle Assessment and carbon footprinting can be utilized to gain competitive advantage.

• Steps to success – identify the value drivers. How to get top level support and how to implement LCA and CF in the management system.

• Maintaining success – lessons learnt and best practice in day to day operation such as integrating LCA and CF into IT systems, product development and environmental communication to clients and other stakeholders.

• Exclusive networking opportunities – face-to-face round table and plenary discussions, direct exchange with users and experts. Answers for all your questions.

PROGRAMME

• Oct. 27, Pre-Symposium Workshop on sustainable supply chain management (limited places available)
• Oct. 28, Symposium “Best practice in applied LCA and Carbon Footprinting”
plus a very special and unique evening event
• Oct. 29, Product sustainability solutions - GaBi user conference

The pressures of climate change and growing demands for transparency will continue to drive LCA and Carbon Footprinting to the forefront of your corporate environmental initiatives.