Innovation Watch: All eyes on the future
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“The year of elections” continues apace, with the UK electorate choosing a new government and voters in France casting their ballots today (Sunday) as part of the country’s second round of parliamentary polling. Naturally, many leaders’ thoughts will turn to the implications of these votes – both for their organisations, and the ESG agenda more generally.
With all eyes on the future, Sustainability Leaders’ Sustainability Planning Guide presents sustainability teams with an opportunity to challenge and validate their plans for the year ahead as they plot the course to net-zero.
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High-steaks approaches to reducing livestock emissions
Agriculture currently accounts for 10% of UK greenhouse emissions, with beef farming the most emissions-intensive activity. In a bid to tackle this challenge, two retailers have adopted very different approaches to reducing this total.
First, supermarket chain Morrisons has unveiled a partnership with 2023 Earthshot prize finalist Sea Forest to use a methane-abating livestock feed to reduce emissions from its beef products.
Sea Forest’s solution uses bioactive compounds found in Asparagopsis, a common seaweed native to the waters of Tasmania. When mixed in very low quantities with animal feed, these help significantly reduce methane emissions from livestock.
The companies are currently seeking approval for their plans and, if successful, they hope to go to market with lower-emission products in 2026.
Online grocer Ocado has taken a different approach, announcing it will be one of the first European retailers to sell a 3D-printed steak produced by Israeli food tech startup Redefine Meat.
Made from a base of wheat, soy and potato protein, the Redefine Meat flank steak is produced using a patented additive manufacturing at site a in the Netherlands. Redefine Meat claims the technology ensures the taste and texture of the product resemble meat more closely than many plant-based alternatives.
The company states its products deliver significant environmental benefits , requiring 98% less land and 96% less water than traditional meats, while one kilogram of Redefine Meat emits the equivalent of one-ninth of the emissions required to produce the equivalent amount of beef burger meat.
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Lego builds towards Scope 3 goals
With value chain emissions counting for 99% of its footprint, Lego has launched a new supplier sustainability programme that outlines its expectations of vendors.
The Billund-headquartered company will require suppliers to report annually on their emissions data “starting in 2024”, as well as their own set emissions-reduction targets for 2026 and 2028.
In addition, the toymaker has said it will work with suppliers to identify actions they should take to meet its ESG goals, such as improving energy efficiency, switching to renewable energy sources and more environmentally friendly logistics practices.
To bring suppliers up to speed, Lego has vowed to focus on building supplier capabilities, and will share knowledge with suppliers, particularly around carbon accounting. Suppliers that continue to encounter difficulties will be able to connect with a team of sustainability experts as required.
Sustainability has been an important focus for Lego in recent years, with the company announcing it had increased spending on environmental initiatives by 60% year-on-year between 2022 and 2023. In addition, a portion of employee bonuses are linked to KPIs on delivering Scope 1 and 2 emissions reductions . In future, the toymaker plans to expand this to Scope 3.
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