This guide, produced by IGD, is designed to help businesses understand what they can do to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and communicates it in a way that will provide the business case for investment in greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction initiatives. 

The Courtauld Commitment is a voluntary “responsibility deal” aimed at improving resource efficiency and reducing the carbon and wider environmental impact of the grocery sector. This includes action to reduce food and packaging waste.  Signatories to the deal include UK grocery retailers and manufacturers, and the initiative is led and coordinated by the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP). 

The Hershey Company recently announced it will source 100 percent certified cocoa for its global chocolate product lines by 2020 and accelerate its programs to help eliminate child labor in the cocoa regions of West Africa.

The journal, PloS Medicine has published its latest issue which focuses on ‘big food’ – a series of 7 articles that examine the activities and influence of the food and beverage industry on health.

This report presents the results of a research exercise commissioned by WWF and conducted by Brook Lyndhurst during the latter part of 2011 and early part of 2012. The research was designed to investigate the business case for retailers to further support and promote sustainable diets.

The EU food and drink industry has published its vision for 2030, setting out its commitments for the next two decades.  As far as I can see there are no tangible targets as regards emission reduction and so forth. What it says instead is as follows:

Unilever has published its one-year on report on the progress it has made in meeting the commitments it set out in its 2010 Sustainable Living Plan. 

This report, published by DEFRA, summarises the work that is underway by different livestock sectors to deliver greater sustainability; provides an overview of industry and government progress and activity of relevance to livestock stakeholders; and highlights the Government’s investment in promoting sustainable agriculture abroad. 

The International Trade Centre (ITC) has published a new technical paper on Product Carbon Footprinting Standards in the Agri-Food Sector. The paper aims to guide exporters of agricultural products through the process of product carbon footprinting (PCF) so as to make it easier for them to understand the processes involved, improve their environmental performance and ultimately to reduce the costs for their business.