We’re Thrilled to Announce Our New Courtauld Affiliates Membership

We are very proud to announce our Courtauld Affiliates membership with WRAP.

The Courtauld Commitment 2030 has expanded its reach with a new Courtauld Affiliates membership, developed to enable businesses who are part of the Food System, but don’t manufacture or retail food and drink, to support its transformation. 

The first to become Courtauld Affiliates include Nutritics, Apeel, Deliveroo, Google, OLIO and Panasonic UK.

Helen Bird, Head of Business Collaboration at WRAP, said, “The goods we consume, the food we eat and the clothes we wear contribute to nearly half of all global emissions; it has never been more urgent to tackle this. The delivery of Courtauld 2030 targets will result in a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions related to food & drink, as well as reductions in waste and water stress from the UK’s food system. It is only through the convening of the full value chain that we can achieve this, and our Affiliates membership opens the door to many more businesses and brands to collaborate to reach these targets.”

Stephen Nolan, the Managing Director of Nutritics said, “We are on a remarkable sustainability journey and our decision to become a Courtauld Affiliate and participate in the UK Food Waste Reduction Roadmap showcases both our passion and dedication to the cause. Sustainability needs to become integrated into all aspects of a business, across all operations, roles and strategies. The Courtauld Commitment 2030 provides an opportunity for us to work collaboratively with other Courtauld Affiliates and influence the entire UK food chain to deliver reductions in food waste, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and water stress. This in turn will accelerate a transition to a sustainable future, particularly in the hospitality and foodservice sector. It’s a big challenge but an exciting one, and we can’t wait to get stuck in and continue to contribute towards both the UK and international environmental goals”.  

The Courtauld Affiliates membership has been created to enable WRAP to engage with commercial businesses who can support and influence the achievement of the GHG, water and food waste targets. WRAP will create individual action plans and tailor its support to ensure each Affiliate business can maximise its own unique contribution.

New Scope 3 Database released 

The renewed interest in joining Courtauld 2030 has been driven in large part by the development of new WRAP support for businesses in measuring GHG Scope 3 emissions. 

In May, WRAP released new GHG Protocols to support the sector, and a key resource has now been added to WRAP’s suite of resources on Scope 3 Emissions as the climate action NGO publishes its GHG Emissions Factor Database — uniquely tailored to food and drink purchases. 

Food and drink businesses currently rely on emission factors to convert purchases into GHG data (forming part of their scope 3 emissions). To date, there has been a lack of clarity and consistency surrounding these emissions factors for food and drink. WRAP’s tools and guidance are addressing this inconsistency, enabling the sector to act, monitor progress and identify hot spots for individual or collective action on a level playing field.  

The new database provides emission factors for around 1,300 unique food products based on product category and country of origin. It is the first database of its kind to be tailored to food and drink anywhere in the world, and the detail means that it is the most accurate way of applying appropriate emissions factors to the produce being bought. 

The release comes with growing widespread acknowledgement of the importance reliable data has on measuring the environmental impacts of food products, and how this could play a role in helping consumers make important environmental decisions when purchasing their food.

Additional information

• The Courtauld Commitment 2030 is a voluntary agreement that enables collaborative action across the entire UK food chain to deliver farm-to-fork reductions in food waste, GHG emissions and water stress that will help the UK food and drink sector achieve global environmental goals. Find out more about the benefits of joining Courtauld 2030 here.
• The Courtauld 2030 target for GHG emissions is to deliver a 50% absolute reduction in GHG emissions associated with food and drink consumed in the UK by 2030 (against a 2015 baseline). Find out more about their work with the food industry to reduce GHG emissions here.
• Working closely with businesses, governments, academics and expert bodies to respond to an urgent need for clarity and direction for UK businesses, WRAP has consulted widely with the food and drink sector, including Courtauld 2030 signatories, to develop the Scope 3 GHG Measurement and Reporting Protocols for Food and Drink Businesses — along with supporting resources that any business can use, with minimum training. The Protocols provide businesses with a consistent methodology for businesses to measure and track progress in reducing supply chain GHG emissions.
• WRAP is a climate action NGO working around the globe to tackle the causes of the climate crisis and give the planet a sustainable future. Their vision is a thriving world in which climate change is no longer a problem. WRAP believes that our natural resources should not be wasted and that everything used should be re-used and recycled. They bring together and work with governments, businesses and individuals to ensure that the world’s natural resources are used more sustainably. Their core purpose is to help tackle climate change and protect our planet by changing the way things are produced, consumed and disposed of.