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Amélie Goldberg, MEnvStud

A life-cycle approach to measuring the sustainability of New Zealand’s primary production: a carbon footprint of beef/sheep. Amélie Goldberg, MEnvStud. School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences. Presentation Outline. Purpose and Background Aims and Objectives Literature Review

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Amélie Goldberg, MEnvStud

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  1. A life-cycle approach to measuring the sustainability of New Zealand’s primary production: a carbon footprint of beef/sheep Amélie Goldberg, MEnvStud School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences

  2. Presentation Outline • Purpose and Background • Aims and Objectives • Literature Review • Methodology • Next steps… • Research Implications

  3. Background • Trade liberalisation and globalisation • Lengthening supply chains & ‘big box’ retail • ‘Food miles’ concerns in UK/ USA • Internalising externalities through reducing information asymmetries • Threat or opportunity for New Zealand?

  4. Purpose • Consumer ability to make better choices • Encourage foresight in the agro-food sector • Producer knowledge and information for responding to international concerns • Environmental quality • Climate change mitigation Short - term outcomes Long - term outcomes

  5. Aim • How well are carbon emissions of the beef/sheep sector managed, from production through to consumption? • What are the opportunities and threats that arise from accounting for carbon in the agro-food sector?

  6. Objectives • Create a carbon footprint of sheep or beef produced and consumed in New Zealand • Compare footprints among farms and categories of farms (e.g. conventional, organic and integrated) • Establish whether comparable profiles exist in the UK, and if so, how they differ • Explore the perceptions of the agro-food sector and the public service about the opportunities and threats to NZ.

  7. Literature Review 1: International Policy • CarbonUK and Carbon Trust • Tesco carbon labelling of food • GHG accounting worldwide

  8. Literature Review 2: New Zealand Context • Patterson 1984: top-down approach • Wells 2001: on-farm production • Saunders et al. 2006: UK focus (food miles) • Stancu & Smith 2007: sector’s environmental knowledge • Information gap in the literature: no complete carbon footprint exists

  9. Methodology • Mixed methods: quantitative and qualitative • Method A: construct a carbon footprint of beef/sheep • Method B: comparison with UK & NZ studies • Method C: perceptions of carbon footprints through semi-structured interviews

  10. Methodology: Method A (Objectives 1-2) • Objectives 1 and 2: create a carbon footprint of beef/sheep meat for comparison and evaluation • Method 1: a life cycle assessment (LCA) focusing on energy and carbon emissions, using a case study with a meat exporter and ~ 35 farms (conventional, organic, and ‘integrated management practices’).

  11. Method A: Carbon Footprint • Energy and carbon focused life cycle assessment (LCA) • An extension of GHG inventory and accounting systems • Applying Wells’ (2001) methodology • ISO 14040 & 14044: Framework and Guidelines (internationally recognised)

  12. ISO 14040 Life Cycle Assessment Framework

  13. LCA of a Food System Adapted from Patterson (1984)

  14. Method B: Literature Review (Obj. 2-3) • Review similar studies in t the UK and New Zealand • Establish whether comparable profiles have been developed • Analyse how these profiles differ

  15. Methodology: Method C (Obj. 4) Undertake semi-structured interviews with: • key informants in the beef/sheep supply chain, including freight operators and retail associations • government officials from different ministries responsible for sustainable agriculture and trade issues.

  16. Next steps… • Doing the Fieldwork! • Interviewee recruitment • Methodological issues • Use of software? SimaPro, GaBI • Combination of bottom-up and top-down data sources? • Difficulty in obtaining data: freight (tonne km of product movements), retail and consumer food shopping patterns

  17. Research Implications • Fills research gaps, especially once products have left farm gate - to NZ consumer’s plate • Although New Zealand production systems may be more carbon efficient than the UK, there is a risk to New Zealand exports if we do not account for emissions (in part due to UK media) • NZ agro-food sector needs to show leadership and foresight in managing their environmental reputation - such as through carbon footprints

  18. Research Implications • Stimulate discussion on NZ ‘food miles’ and how supply chains, delivery patterns & shopping behaviour can be modified to decarbonise our food systems • Creating footprints enables: • NZ agro-food sector to respond to information requests from international markets • Consumers to vote with their $ and choose low-carbon products - through carbon labelling

  19. References Barber, A., & Pellow, G. (2005). Energy use and efficiency measures for the New Zealand dairy farming industry: Prepared by AgriLink New Zealand for the Climate Change Office. Bolland, J., Weir, D., & Vincent, M. (2005). Development of a New Zealand national freight matrix (No. 283 Land Transport New Zealand Research Report). Wellington: Booz Allen Hamilton (NZ) Ltd. Cavana, R. Y., Harrison, I. G., Heffernan, F. E. B., & Kissling, C. C. (1997). Freight transport in New Zealand - Working Paper 2/97. Wellington: Graduate School of Business and Government Management, Victoria University of Wellington. Fuels & Energy Management Group. (2000). Road transport sector energy demand and CO2 output - projections and analysis of reduction strategies. Wellington: Ministry of Transport. Lovell-Smith, J. E. R., & Baldwin, A. J. (1988). Energy trends in the New Zealand diary industry. New Zealand Journal of Diary Science and Technology, 23, 239-255. Patterson, M. G. (1984). Energy use in the New Zealand Food System. Energy in Agriculture, 3, 289-304. Saunders, C., Barber, A., & Taylor, G. (2006). Food Miles- Comparative Energy/Emissions Performance of New Zealand's Agriculture Industry: Lincoln University. Smith, A., Watkiss, P., Tweedle, G., McKinnon, A., Hunt, A., Trevelen, C., et al. (2005). The Validity of Food Miles as an Indicator of Sustainable Development: DEFRA. Stancu, C., & Smith, A. (2007, Feb 21-23). Making sustainable links: the well-being of NZ exports in a changing climate. Paper presented at the 2nd International Conference of Sustainability and Engineering Science, Auckland, NZ. Wells, C. (2001). Total energy indicators of agricultural sustainability: dairy farming case study: University of Otago.

  20. Questions?Feel free to me send your feedback or comments:amelie.goldberg@gmail.com

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