Bakkavor recognises climate change as the single most significant sustainability challenge facing our world and impacting business and society. Climate science shows that the world must make rapid and deep emission cuts, halving emissions before 2030 and achieving net-zero before 2050.
To play our part in this we have committed to reaching Net Zero carbon emissions across our Group operations (scopes 1 & 2) by 2040 and across the full value chain (including scope 3) by 2050.
These commitments are part of our near and long-term science-based net-zero targets that have been verified by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) – a collaborative organisation that defines and promotes best practice in science-based target setting and independently assesses companies’ targets.
Bakkavor’s climate targets also include near-term science-based targets for all scopes, as we commit to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 42% by 2030 (2021 baseline) and Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services by 42% within the same timeframe. These targets have been classified as aligned to a 1.5°c mitigation trajectory.
The food and agriculture sector is both affected by climate change and a major contributor to it. Therefore, as a food manufacturer, we have committed to further climate targets for those of emissions that originate from Forest, Land use and Agriculture – also known as FLAG emissions.
To reach these targets, Bakkavor is implementing a series of programmes to decarbonise our direct operations (scopes 1 & 2). These have already shown positive progress (read more in our latest ESG report) and we will continue to roll out further plans and monitor progress to ensure that we are on track. Furthermore, to address indirect (scope 3) emissions, we participate in a number of initiatives with our suppliers and industry partners that will directly reduce this impact. This includes sourcing plans to eliminate deforestation from forest-risk commodities, packaging innovations, and collaborative projects to better understand product-level carbon impacts.
Bakkavor measures and tracks our progress through quarterly internal reporting of our direct carbon footprint, and annually through our external reporting. We use the TCFD’s framework for disclosing climate risks and also report to CDP’s Climate questionnaire, scoring a B for our 2023 questionnaire. Performance is incentivised at a senior level with emissions reduction progress forming part of our Long Term Incentive Plan, described in more detail in our Remuneration Report.
Specifically, the commitments approved by the SBTi are:
OUR Science-based climate targets:
- Bakkavor commits to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across the value chain by 2050
Energy and Industry
- (Near-term) Bakkavor commits to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 42% by 2030 from a 2021 base year1.
- Bakkavor also commits to reduce absolute Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services 42% within the same timeframe.
- (Long-term) Bakkavor commits to reduce absolute Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions 90% by 2050 from a 2021 base year.
Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG)
- (Near-term) Bakkavor commits to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 3 FLAG GHG emissions 30.3% by 2030 from a 2021 base year2.
- (Long-term) Bakkavor also commits to reduce Scope 1 and 3 FLAG GHG emissions 72% by 2050 from a 2021 base year2.
- Bakkavor Group PLC also commits to no deforestation across its primary deforestation-linked commodities, with a target date of December 31, 2025.
Read our CDP responses: Climate Change 2023
Read our TCFD report in our latest Annual Report 2023
1 The target boundary includes land-related emissions and removals from bioenergy feedstocks.
2 The target includes FLAG emissions and removals.