By Gavin Evans
May 29 (Bloomberg) -- Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd., the world’s largest dairy exporter, said a study may help develop an international standard for measuring emissions by milk producers.
Results released today from the 18-month project show each liter of milk produced by the company’s New Zealand farmers generates the equivalent of 940 grams (33 ounces) of carbon dioxide, Auckland-based Fonterra said in an e-mailed statement. About 85 percent of the emissions occur on-farm.
New Zealand, a signatory to the United Nations’ Kyoto protocol on climate change, is the world’s biggest exporter of milk products and lamb. About half its emissions come from farms and some of its exports have been targeted by U.K. environmentalists seeking special status for locally grown foods.
“We hope our work will speed efforts to agree a milk product carbon measurement standard that can be used by farmers and dairy companies everywhere,” Barry Harris, who runs Fonterra’s sustainability project, said in the statement. An agreed standard “means that if people want to make comparisons with other milk products or benchmark their performance, there is a fair and scientifically robust basis for doing so.”
The study, audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers, was carried out by the University of New South Wales in Australia and New Zealand research companies Scion and AgResearch Ltd.
The methods adopted will contribute to work the Belgium- based International Dairy Federation is doing on a global carbon standard, John Hutchings, Fonterra’s manager for sustainable production, said in a telephone interview. That work is expected to be completed within a year, he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Gavin Evans in Wellington at gavinevans@bloomberg.net.
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