Fonterra, the New Zealand dairy co-op, has announced its commitment to reduce on-farm emissions by 30% by 2030. The company revealed that 86% of its emissions come from its farms and aims to reduce emissions intensity per tonne of fat and protein corrected milk from a 2018 baseline. The announcement, made at the Fonterra annual meeting, did not provide specific incentives for farmers to adopt emissions reduction measures. However, the co-op outlined its strategy to achieve the target, including a 7% reduction through farming best practices, 7% reduction through new technologies developed by AgriZeroNZ, 8% reduction through carbon removals from vegetation, and 8% reduction from historical land-use change conversions to dairy. Fonterra’s CEO, Miles Hurrell, emphasized the importance of keeping up with sustainability ambitions from customers and financial institutions, as well as market access and reporting obligations. He stated that collective efforts to reduce emissions will help ensure Fonterra’s long-term sustainability as a cooperative. Fonterra chair, Peter McBride, acknowledged the variation in emissions intensity across farming systems and expressed confidence in making progress towards the target through farmer collaboration and information sharing. He highlighted the need for a combination of best farming practices and technology to address on-farm emissions. McBride assured farmers that the co-op’s approach would be to work alongside them, investing in methane reduction technologies. This announcement follows extensive discussions between Fonterra and its 9,000 farmer shareholders over the past year. Fonterra has also launched its climate roadmap, detailing the actions it will take to achieve its 2030 targets and its ambition to be net zero by 2050. Furthermore, the company has released its first climate-related disclosure report, identifying climate-related risks and opportunities. New Zealand is the first country to introduce mandatory climate-related risk reporting, which will become mandatory for approximately 200 companies, including Fonterra, next year.
