Cutting CO2 Emissions
FDF members are committed to making significant reductions in carbon dioxide
emissions to help tackle climate change.
The Challenge
Climate change is arguably the biggest single challenge facing mankind and the
planet. Experts advise that the Earth is locked into a pattern of rising
temperature and sea levels that is almost certainly the result of human activities1.
The
main cause is the release of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, into the
atmosphere.
The climatic effect is proving extreme and
unpredictable.
Tackling climate change requires everyone to play their full part – the
public
sector, energy suppliers, industry and private individuals alike. The UK
food and
drink manufacturing sector has made a very good start. It has reduced
its CO2
emissions significantly since 1990. However, given the scale of the
challenge, no
sector can afford to be complacent. We must all do more.
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FDF's Ambition
FDF members are committed to an industry-wide2 absolute target to reduce CO2
emissions3 by 20% by 2010 against a 1990 baseline4.
However, as the voice of the UK food and drink industry, FDF wishes to send a
clear message nationally and to the international business community about the
scale and urgency of the problem.
FDF members are therefore committed to going further still in the
medium-term
and aspire to achieve a 30% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020 compared to
1990.
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Delivering Our Ambition
FDF will work closely with the Carbon Trust and other partners to develop carbon
management best practice which we will disseminate through a systematic programme
of support for food and drink manufacturers.
We will work closely with the British Standards Institute and other partners to
develop a single methodology to measure the total carbon emissions (sometimes
termed 'carbon footprint') associated with the supply chains for food
and
non-food
products. This methodology will help us to identify where
further CO2
reductions
can be made.
FDF will develop a range of targeted energy efficiency projects in partnership
with best practice organisations, e.g. to reduce energy use in refrigeration and
air compression. We will report in aggregate on the annual contribution made by
FDF members to the industry-wide target.
See Cutting CO2 Emissions Company Case Studies
Footnote 1: Source: UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Footnote 2: Proposed in the Food Industry Sustainability Strategy published
by
Defra in 2006.
Footnote 3: Refers to CO2 arising from the use of energy (from fossil fuels, gas and
electricity) at
food and drink manufacturing installations.
Footnote 4: Based upon a combination Dukes data published by DTI and, from
2001, data
gathered under FDF's Climate Change Agreement.
The information in this section is taken from a document entitled The Environment: Making a real difference (pdf, 1.4Mb) published by FDF in October 2007 .
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Last reviewed: 22 Nov 2007