The Federation of Wholesale Distributors (FWD) has on Thursday unveiled a Wholesale Roadmap to Net Zero, aligning them with others in the food and drink sector with the goal of achieving Net Zero by 2040.
The project, which has been nine months in the making, was unveiled at the FWD conference on 29 June. FWD commissioned sustainability consultant 3Keel to partner on this project and worked in collaboration with the Scottish Wholesale Association (SWA).
The project consisted of three key elements: a calculation of the carbon footprint of the UK wholesale sector, a calculator which will be free for all FWD and SWA members to keep a track of their own emissions, and a comprehensive step-by-step climate action guide to help wholesalers reduce emissions and ultimately reach net zero targets.
The report reveals the UK wholesale sector’s total carbon footprint, including impacts from across its value chain, was 18 million tonnes of emissions in 2021. However, wholesalers are only directly responsible for approximately 4 per cent of these in the operation of their businesses (referred to as Scope 1 & 2 emissions), with the majority of value chain emissions upstream in ingredient production and manufacturing processes.
It is therefore vital for wholesalers to engage with manufacturers, suppliers and customers to reach net zero, FWD noted. All other points in the food and drink supply chain have committed to net zero by 2040.
When focusing on emissions created solely from wholesalers’ direct operations, the report showed the majority of impact comes from vehicle use, at 63 per cent of Scope 1 and 2 emissions, followed by electricity use at 17 per cent, refrigerants 7 per cent and fuel use for buildings at 6 per cent.
The roadmap element of the project sets out the case for acting on climate change, highlighting the key issues facing the sector, and how wholesalers can play their part in the transition to a low-carbon economy. The report also outlines the actions wholesalers need to take in order to decarbonise their operations and value chains.
Key government policy asks which will be needed to support a climate transition are highlighted throughout the report. These include a clear strategy for road freight decarbonisation, a long-term legislative plan for commercial and industrial building decarbonisation, and incentivisation of greater availability, consistency and quality of Scope 3 emissions data.
FWD said many of its members are in the early stages of their climate action journey. To help wholesalers get started, the roadmap includes a four-step guide: Firstly, wholesalers must baseline their company’s current emissions, then set clear climate ambitions and develop an action plan. Finally, establish internal structures for tracking progress and hold themselves to account.
“It is clear wholesalers are acting across all areas of their business, but more help and encouragement is needed to enable to the sector to fully measure progress towards Net Zero,” said James Bielby, FWD chief executive. “This is no longer an added extra, it’s a business essential for a wholesale channel which is sustainable - in both senses of the word.”
“This groundbreaking report provides a greater understanding of the direct emissions of our sector and offers help to members in understanding their emissions, and the roadmap for members contains interim pledges as well steps to take.”
Research conducted for the Wholesale Sector Net Zero roadmap identified key sources of Scope 1 and 2 emissions as road transport, followed by electricity use in depots and offices. Other sources of Scope 1 and 2 emissions identified were fuel used to heat buildings and refrigerant leakage from storage and HGVs.
FWD said it will present this report to Department for Environment, Food & Rural affairs and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
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