Improving our business sustainability by measuring and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and supporting our staff and suppliers to do the same, is an important part of our commitment to a greener tomorrow.
We’re proud to be a signatory of the Climate Leaders Coalition and are committed to making improvements within our business to reduce emissions.
What we’re doing to improve business sustainability
We recognise the need for collective action on climate change and are undergoing some key initiatives to make sure we’re playing our part. Take a look at our latest Sustainability Report for more details about what we are working on as a company and how we're supporting the New Zealand dairy sector.
Our climate risks and opportunities
As a NZX listed company, LIC is a Climate Reporting Entity and reported under the External Reporting Board’s Climate-related Disclosure Framework from the 2023/24 reporting year.
We have also adopted the Climate Leaders Coalition Statement of Ambition, which includes:
- Measuring our emissions, having them independently verified, and reporting them publicly;
- Adopting short-and-long-term gross absolute science aligned targets for scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions to support the delivery of substantial reductions needed to limit future warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius;
- Assessing climate change risks and opportunities (including in the value chain), setting objectives and/or target(s) to reduce these risks and maximise opportunities, and publicly disclosing them; and
- Proactively enabling our employees, board members, customers, and suppliers to reduce their emissions and climate change risks.
Our emissions and energy
We first measured our emissions in the 2018 financial year (1 June 2018 – 31 May 2019). These measurements serve as our base year for all future emissions to be compared against.
Science- aligned emissions targets
LIC has previously set emissions reduction targets based on science-aligned methodologies using SBTi (Science Based Target initiatives) tools and guided by the biogenic methane emissions reduction target in the Climate Change Response Act 2002, with the intention of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and contributing proportionately to the efforts to limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
While we have been working hard on reducing emissions, the organisation is currently in the process of reviewing our emissions reduction targets and corresponding base year calculation to ensure that they are appropriate given the challenges the sector is currently facing with a lack of sufficient novel technology and innovation being available to achieve the targeted emissions reduction, as well as to reflect LIC’s unique role in assisting the New Zealand dairy sector to drive down methane emissions. This means that the following targets and base year and base year calculations may change:
- 46.2% reduction of Scope 1 and 2 emissions* by 2030
- 10% reduction of Scope 1 biogenic methane by 2030
*Excluding biogenic methane
Scope 1 – Direct GHG emission sources
Direct emissions are generated by sources owned or controlled by us. For example, emissions from our fleet vehicles, and agriculture emissions from our farms.
Scope 2 – Indirect GHG emission sources
Indirect emissions are derived from the generation of purchased electricity that is used by LIC.
Scope 3 – Other GHG indirect emission sources
Other indirect emissions are derived from the activities that are carried out by us but from sources not controlled by us. For example, indirect emissions from staff vehicles used to travel to and from work.
Scope 1 – Biogenic methane
Scope 1 biogenic methane emissions are generated from enteric fermentation, manure from our cows and bulls, and from onsite wastewater treatment.
Scope 3 – Biogenic methane
Scope 3 biogenic methane emissions are generated from municipal wastewater treatment and waste.
