Strengthening Your Sustainability Strategy

by Zach Pinto
Director, Carbon & Ecosystem Service Markets

In late 2015, many governments adopted the Paris Agreement – a legally binding, international treaty on greenhouse gas emissions. Since then, corporations and NGOS have joined governments to develop targets and strategies to limit environmental impacts. Now several years into the treaty, recent articles and analyses indicate that, collectively, we aren’t on track to make the changes needed.  

Sustainability Commitments 

To date, 341 food and agriculture companies have committed to and are engaging in science-based targets to advance sustainability and lower their environmental footprints. 

Within those commitments, targets around Scope 3 emissions offer the greatest opportunity for reductions and impact. Scope 3 emissions are environmental externalities that fall outside of a company’s direct control, typically within their upstream or downstream supply chains.  

For many food, feed, fuel, and fiber companies across the globe, reducing environmental impacts at the farm level is imperative for making progress toward these targets. 

Solutions within Agriculture 

Promising research shows that solutions exist within agriculture to accelerate progress and generate environmental benefit. From carbon sequestration, to improved water quality and usage, to enhanced biodiversity, these solutions can be scaled for positive global impacts.  

The good news is, much of the great work our industry is doing to inset its impacts – carbon programs, ecosystem markets, NRCS programs, USDA Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities – can count as progress toward these targets. The key, of course, is making sure all of this work is measurable, verifiable, and scalable – and ensuring that the changes work for farmers and ranchers – both agronomically and economically.  

Here are three ways to strengthen your sustainability strategy and start unlocking the potential within agriculture:

  • Plan your strategy: Clarify what your supply shed looks like and outline your path forward. What are the most effective ways to drive change, measure progress, and reward farmers in the process? 
  • Partner with farmers: Farmers know how to farm, but adoption of regenerative practices is not a one-strategy-fits-all approach – cover crops don’t work for every farm, for example. Once you know where to focus, make sure you consult growers in the region to ensure you create interventions that work for their farm-specific conditions, make agronomic sense, and prove to be economically viable. 
  • Implement on the ground: Run pilots to test strategies and eventually scale them into full interventions. Ensure practices and outcomes align with leading public cost share programs and private ecosystem service markets that pay growers and count towards your targets.

Read more about how AgSpire can provide strategic guidance and implementation assistance to advance your sustainability goals: Our Services

Learn More

To showcase the great work going on in our industry, incentivize continuous improvement, and reward farmers for the positive practices they implement, many companies worldwide have set rigorous, protocol-based targets. These include:

  • Science-Based Targets: These targets define how quickly and by how much companies should reduce their environmental impacts, based on the best available science, to ensure that global goals such as the Paris Agreement or the Global Biodiversity Framework are met. Science-based targets for greenhouse gas emissions must be validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), and Science-based targets for water, land, and biodiversity must be validated by the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN).  
  • Net Zero Targets: Net Zero Targets are science-based targets that set the standard for how a company can credibly reduce their carbon footprint to net zero (when the amount of all greenhouse gases a company emits equals the amount it removes from the atmosphere) by 2050.

Additional Reading and Citations:

Soil Health and Carbon Sequestration in US Croplands: A Policy Analysis – https://food.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/GSPPCarbon_03052016_FINAL.pdf 

Cover Crops, No-Till Increase Carbon Gains in Soil – https://www.no-tillfarmer.com/articles/9818-cover-crops-no-till-increase-carbon-gains-in-soil

Negative Emissions Technologies and Reliable Sequestration – https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25259/negative-emissions-technologies-and-reliable-sequestration-a-research-agenda

About the Author

ZACH PINTO
Director of Carbon & Ecosystem Service Markets

Zach promotes company strategy and client success by assisting industry groups, food and ag companies, and farmers on their sustainability goals. Zach has worked on carbon issues for stakeholders across the agriculture value chain and in a wide array of commodities, developing expertise in farm-level carbon accounting, MRV platform usage, voluntary and compliance market schemes, science-based targets, ESG reporting, and strategic planning.

About AgSpire

AgSpire provides customized solutions for those who want to create positive land-use outcomes. The organization was founded in 2021 from the passion to amplify the implementation of positive land use practices, resulting in tangible and quantifiable outcomes for the environment and our society. AgSpire specializes in strategy and implementation of regenerative agriculture solutions for clients in the food, agricultural, and natural resource space and solves for an increasingly complex agricultural landscape in need of balanced short-term efficiency and long-term viability.

Keep Reading

All News

SustainAg Network Connects Farmers & Ranchers with Funding for Producer-Led Conservation Practices

Fields of bright green rye stand out among the mostly brown early spring fieldscape on Luke Hiebert’s crop and livestock farm northeast of Huron, South Dakota. “Traditionally, at this point in the season, nothing would be growing out in those fields. This is the reason I decided to plant rye,” said Hiebert, during an early April conversation. “It has been growing since last fall, and I like having a living root in the soil as long as possible. It helps with compaction, reduces erosion, increases water infiltration, builds organic matter and overall, improves soil health.”

Apr 15, 2024

Scope 3 Emissions - Do they still matter?

While many expected the SEC to follow California’s lead related to Scope 3 disclosures, the final SEC ruling excluded a proposed requirement that companies report Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions. What does this mean for the future of Scope 3? In a victory for ag, producers may now be safe from providing annual farm-level data to companies far up the value chain. However, more likely than not, Scope 3 at large will continue to remain important for major companies with ag-based supply chains.

Apr 2, 2024

Navigating the Future of Meat: The Role of Sustainability in Driving Business Success

While the sustainability conversation is more established in row crop agriculture, it took center stage among livestock stakeholders. Amid the discussions and presentations, a compelling narrative emerged, one that underscores a pivotal moment for the meat sector. The industry stands at the cusp of a transformative opportunity, where the integration of sustainability practices into business models is a strategic business imperative. This “sustainability flywheel” concept—where investments in sustainability drive meat product sales, which in turn, fuel further sustainability investments—has become a tangible pathway to resilience and growth in difficult economic times.

Apr 2, 2024

Enhancing Biodiversity: The Critical Role of Grazing 

Biodiversity is more than a buzzword. It is a critical component of shaping the future of healthy and productive working lands. At AgSpire, we believe that understanding and harnessing biodiversity is not merely about compliance; it’s about adopting a transformative approach that elevates the land’s productivity and resilience for future generations.

Jan 26, 2024

Planning Your 2024 Scope 3 Approach

With only a handful of growing seasons left until 2030 – the deadline for many companies to achieve their near-term science-based targets – even the smallest component of your scope 3 approach needs to have purpose and value. Read more for three ways to ensure you are moving into 2024 with focus and impact.

Dec 20, 2023

Leveraging Alternative Funding Mechanisms

RCPP, CIG, CIS, IRA - each of these acronyms represent funding opportunities to help accelerate adoption of climate-smart practices on farms and ranches around the country. Leveraging available funding provides greater support to producers, while expanding the impact of private sustainability investments.

Dec 20, 2023

Meeting Farmers and Ranchers Where They Are

The AgSpire team has traveled around the country to meet with producers, leading recruitment for our program portfolio. This boots-on-the-ground approach has given us the opportunity to meet with hundreds of farmers and ranchers, learning first-hand about their goals, motivations, and barriers to sustainable practice adoption. These efforts have revealed several key takeaways.

Dec 20, 2023

First Practices Implemented Under USDA Climate-Smart Commodities Programs

As the implementation of the USDA Climate-Smart Commodities Programs gets underway, Derek and the rest of the AgSpire technical team are working with farmers and ranchers to adopt new practices. On this farm, Derek used soil samples to show the impact that cover crops have on soil health.

Nov 27, 2023

4 Considerations for Successful Farm-Level Interventions

Successful farm-level interventions can be complex and challenging to design and implement. At AgSpire, we drive success down to the ground level with a simple approach: putting the producer first.

Nov 27, 2023

Understanding Carbon Intensity Scores

Oct 24, 2023