Carblecast
Net-Positive coffee and cocoa?
Carble
October 5, 2023
Measure, model, and mitigate carbon emissions and deforestation with Carble.
In our new video series, Carblecast: coffee, cocoa, & climate, Cable’s CEO, Sander Reuderink, explains how we can make sure commodities like coffee and cocoa have a net-positive impact on our environment. Listen and watch episode #1 or scroll further to read the transcript.
News headlines reveal the ambitious climate goals of commodity companies: net zero by 2050. As commodity industries, we know how important it is to meet these goals. According to the Paris Agreement, which all major economies signed, we need to cut our emissions in half by 2030 and reach planetary net zero emissions by 2050.
This means we cannot continue to allocate unlimited natural resources to products that have little or no nutritional value, like coffee, no matter how delicious they are. So the question remains: How can we make sure that commodities like coffee and cocoa have a net-positive impact on our environment?
The production of a bag of coffee emits carbon due to packaging, distribution, roasting, grinding, transport, and fertilizer use on the farm. But around 70% of the carbon footprint of a bag of coffee is caused by ‘Land-use change’, another word for deforestation. For other commodities, like cocoa, tea, and rubber, the picture is very similar.
Deforestation causes ~5Gt of emissions, 10% of all our emissions. That is 5x as much as the aviation industry emits. Clearly ending deforestation should be our highest priority on the road to net-zero tropical commodities. But before we go there, let’s have a quick look at how deforestation is included in the footprint calculations of a commodity.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) identifies 3 tiers of accuracy:
At Carble, all our work starts with accurate Tier-3 measurements. In our experience, these more accurate Tier-3 measurements always result in much higher emissions than the national averages indicate. Now, of course, none of this would make any sense if producers can be deforesting this year, but do not have to account for any emissions from deforestation next year. To prevent this, companies have to include historical emissions of the last 20 years with a linear discount formula.
To answer how we reach a net-positive future, we have to first understand that commodities like coffee and cocoa are traditionally grown under the shade of larger trees, which brings huge advantages in terms of carbon storage and biodiversity.
But since farmers do not get rewarded for the services they provide to the planet, the amount of coffee grown under share reduces every year, resulting in massive carbon emissions. Coffee and cocoa farmers in almost all countries earn less than a living income, and nobody can look after the environment when they are hungry.
In our opinion, since carbon from deforestation enters the atmosphere immediately, the highest priority on the road to net zero tropical commodities should be to prevent this degradation of the forest canopy and reward farmers for keeping the carbon stored safely in the trees.
Then, when we have made sure there is no deforestation or forest degradation, we can start looking at reforestation: supporting farmers as they transition to more regenerative farming practices, and planting new shade trees. These trees will take 20 or 30 years to mature and absorb all the carbon from the atmosphere, but they can actually absorb more carbon than is emitted by the rest of the production - resulting in a net positive product.
So, if we want to drink coffee in 2050, we will get the best ROI of our decarbonization if we reward smallholder farmers for keeping carbon stored in agroforestry. What an achievement would it be if we could enjoy our coffee and know that all people in the supply chain can afford a decent standard of living while looking after our planet?
