FDF members can show impressive achievements under the Five-Fold Environmental Ambition, says John Sutcliffe


The issue of climate change is again taking centre stage in the national media in the lead up to next week's UN conference in Copenhagen.

A global political agenda with respect to the environment has been formed that will shape how our businesses respond individually and collectively. Corporate leaders across the food chain in the UK are showing genuine leadership as they strive to adapt their companies to make them more sustainable and better able to compete in the low-carbon future.

The UK food industry is the country's single-largest manufacturing sector directly employing more than 440,000 people in some 7,000 individual businesses, many of which are SMEs. Given the scale and diversity of the UK food industry, an aligned platform to address serious environmental issues will help foster and share best practice.

Since it was first published in 2007, the FDF Five-fold Environmental Ambition has helped meet this requirement by defining the leadership role our industry is taking on sustainable food production.

Next week FDF will publish the latest progress update on the Ambition. This will show FDF members cut CO2 emissions by 19% in 2008 compared with 1990 a saving equivalent to almost one million tonnes of CO2 and we remain on track for meeting our targets of reducing emissions by 20% by 2010 and our longer-term aspiration of 30% by 2020.

Significant progress has also been made on the other four aims sending zero factory waste to landfill; reducing packaging; using fewer and 'friendlier' food miles; and boosting water efficiency in our facilities.

Common to meeting both our climate change and food security objectives is the need to improve efficiency of resource consumption across the entire food chain. Many of the biggest environmental impacts in our sector occur either on-farm or in-home rather than in manufacturing itself. The use of an evidence-based, lifecycle approach is key to shaping future environmental legislation while ensuring a regulatory framework that enables us to stay competitive.

John Sutcliffe is chief executive of the grocery division of ABF and chairman of the FDF's Sustainability Steering Group.

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