Brewing confidence with Carlsberg through high-quality carbon data

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Challenge 

How can organisations work with suppliers to accurately track their value chain emissions?

Whether it’s the agricultural production of ingredients, the manufacturing of bottles and cans or the cooling before consumption, capturing a brewer’s full value chain footprint is a highly intricate process. With so many elements in the mix, organisations cannot track their carbon reduction efforts if they rely solely on basic spend-based data and assumptions.   

Measuring the true carbon footprint of a food or drink provider requires cross-collaboration with suppliers to obtain primary data. That’s why, since 2016, Carlsberg Group has been working with the Carbon Trust to improve its Scope 3 footprint quality.  

Following the footprinting of its own emissions, Carlsberg wanted to go further and sought to step up its ‘ZERO carbon footprint’ ambitions. The company evolved its ESG work to develop the Together Towards ZERO and Beyond (TTZAB) programme. This aimed to collaborate more with suppliers and refine its value chain footprint measurement, so Carlsberg can focus its decarbonisation efforts on the right places and set its path to achieving Net Zero carbon emissions across the entire value chain by 2040. 
 

Scope 3 emissions

Indirect emissions (which do not fall under Scope 2 emissions) that can be found across an organisation’s value chain. It covers the emissions generated by suppliers, distributors and consumers, e.g., through the purchase of services and goods, business travel and waste in operations. It also encompasses activities like leased assets, transport and distribution, the use and disposal of sold products and the impact of any investments. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Scope 3 Standard has identified 15 categories across upstream and downstream activities. Find out more.

Solution 

A bespoke emissions calculator for primary supply chain data 

Since 2016, Carlsberg has taken a continuous approach to engaging with its supply chain partners and improving the granularity of its carbon footprint. Together, we have:

Business case

Created a bespoke emissions calculator. This can hold rich supplier data to meaningfully track changes in Scope 3 emissions over time. The calculator not only aligns with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol but also meets the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable Guidance (BIER) sector guidance. This ensures that Carlsberg's secondary data and assumptions match those of other industry partners.

Reporting

Put in place a system to check carbon figures to make sure the calculation model is up to date and reflects Carlsberg’s day-to-day business decisions. As a result, Carlsberg’s footprint is rebaselined on an ongoing basis to balance the needs of improving footprint accuracy and tracking ongoing reductions in a robust manner.

Consistent reporting

Set near-term science-based targets and a long-term Net Zero target that align with the Science Based Targets initiative’s (SBTi) Net Zero Standard and the new requirements for businesses in Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) sectors.

Impact

Confident decision-making in climate action and beyond

From the barley fields to the beer in hand, together we have been refining Carlsberg’s carbon footprint measurement and helped Carlsberg set climate targets aligned with the 1.5C target in the Paris Agreement. The impact of our partnership and Carlsberg’s climate efforts is far-reaching. The collaboration has: 

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Increased certainty of Carlsberg’s supply chain emissions. By 2020, Carlsberg’s value chain footprint increasingly came from primary sources: malt (>50%), cans (>85%) and glass (>35%). Equipped with this information, Carlsberg can make more confident business decisions across procurement, brewery operations and distribution.

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Encouraged suppliers to cut their own emissions. Carlsberg’s full value chain emissions saw a 7% reduction (baseline year: 2015). Thanks to more integrity in Carlsberg’s Scope 3 data, the brewer can target its higher-emitting suppliers through its Together Towards ZERO and Beyond (TTZAB) programme.

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Allowed Carlsberg to understand both its total Group footprint and the emissions per hectolitre of beer brewed. This means the business can better determine the full life cycle impact of its products, compare them across the global market and work to reduce their impact according to local market contexts.

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Raised the brewer’s climate ambition, submitting climate targets that meet the SBTi’s Net Zero guidance. Carlsberg’s FLAG-specific target is under development, and its Net Zero target will be reviewed.

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Our purpose is brewing for a better today and tomorrow, and we take this seriously. At Carlsberg, we believe that reducing our carbon emissions from the barley in our fields, to the beer on our customers’ shelves and in consumers’ hands, is an essential part of this purpose, and the journey is one we must make in partnership with others. We have long valued the Carbon Trust’s standing as an independent expert on climate action and have been working closely together for several years. The team’s extensive knowledge of Scope 3 emissions has been invaluable in helping us progress on our climate goals with accuracy, transparency, and confidence – three crucial elements for the success of our ESG programme, as we drive Together Towards ZERO and Beyond.

Simon Boas Hoffmeyer
Senior Director Sustainability & ESG, Carlsberg Group

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