Tackling greenhouse gas emissions in supermarket supply chains

The UK has one of the most concentrated groceries retail sectors in the world, with just five supermarkets controlling around 80% of the market. Tackling greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in these supply chains can therefore have a huge impact. But with thousands of suppliers, fierce competition between retailers, and less-than-perfect measurement tools, how can this actually be achieved?

In the latest AFN Network+ webinar, Dr Stephen Mackenzie, a Senior Specialist on the issue of GHGs in food systems at WRAP, digs into this for us. WRAP is the UK’s leading climate change NGO focused on waste and resources, and Stephen is playing a major role in the charity’s recently launched Retailer Net Zero Collaborative Action Programme, a major collaboration between WRAP, WWF and eight UK retailers that aims to accelerate progress on reducing GHG emissions in the food and drink sector through pre-competitive collaboration.

Dr Mackenzie covers:

• A top-down view on key sources of GHG emissions in UK food systems and trends in recent years
• An overview of membership and principles of the GHG working group under the Courtauld Commitment 2030
• Current barriers to measuring GHGs across supply chains, including on-farm carbon calculation tools, reporting standards, and decision making.
• The Retailer Net Zero CAP – opportunities and challenges of forming such collaborations
• Research gaps to measuring and reducing GHG in supply chains and where our working group members say they need help 

Dr Stephen Mackenzie is the technical lead for modelling GHGs in food systems with WRAP. In this role he helps food businesses to follow key principles of GHG accounting through relevant working groups under the Courtauld 2030 Commitment and works to foster collaboration across the food supply chain on how these data can drive GHG reductions in UK food supply chains. Stephen leads the GHG team at WRAP team that launched the WRAP Scope 3 Measurement & Reporting Protocols which were piloted with 17 UK food businesses in 2022 as well as the UK Food System GHG Emissions model. Prior to taking up this role at WRAP, he spent 10 years in academic research roles with Newcastle University, Trinity College Dublin and University of Edinburgh developing Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) models to quantify the environmental impacts of food production. He particularly specialized in modelling GHGs and mitigation pathways for livestock production systems.

The seminar was chaired by Prof Neil Ward, a co-convenor of AFN Network+, and author of 'Net Zero, Food and Farming: Climate Change and the UK Agri-Food System'..
 
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