- MAFF says its new GHG calculation tool is compatible with international reporting standards.
- An industry consortium will adopt MAFF’s emissions calculator for Scope 3 Category 1 reporting.
- The initiative seeks to replace emissions estimates with farm-level data in corporate reporting.
The Insetting Consortium said that participating companies will use the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ (MAFF) GHG Simple Calculation Sheet to calculate Scope 3 Category 1 emissions, including in the dairy sector.
“To avoid the proliferation of competing standards and tools at the production level, the consortium is working with MAFF with the aim of using the ministry’s calculation tool, which is already the most widely adopted among producers, as a principal tool for collecting primary data for Scope 3 emissions measurement and reporting,” said the consortium in the press statement.
The consortium includes food manufacturers, distributors, agricultural organisations and other stakeholders and aims to reduce emissions throughout the supply chain by directing investment and support towards production sites.
Members include major food companies such as Coca-Cola, Ajinomoto, Suntory, Kagome and Meiji.
This follows MAFF’s confirmation that the GHG calculation sheet aligns with major international carbon-accounting standards, including the GHG Protocol and Japan’s SSBJ disclosure rules.
The assessment clears the way for food companies to use producer-submitted figures in their own Scope 3 Category 1 reporting, which covers emissions from purchased agricultural and livestock raw materials.
MAFF described the initiative as the first collaboration aimed at using the calculation sheet following the ministry’s clarification of its applicability to Scope 3 reporting.
Addressing Scope 3 data gaps
Food companies have faced mounting pressure to account for emissions across their supply chains, not just their own operations.
Emissions associated with agricultural and livestock raw materials purchased by food companies are typically the largest and least verifiable share of their footprint.
However, getting accurate producer-specific data from individual farms has been a challenge, forcing most companies to rely on industry averages rather than actual figures.
MAFF’s calculation tool, which currently covers 24 crop products and two livestock products, was designed to close that gap.
The ministry has been promoting adoption of its GHG Simple Calculation Sheet to support the measurement and reduction of emissions at the agricultural production stage.
“By collaborating with producers and utilising the calculation results of this sheet, food companies and other businesses can reflect producers’ efforts to reduce GHG emissions in Scope 3 values,” said MAFF.
The tool was developed under the ministry’s Guidelines for the Evaluation and Labelling of Environmental Impact Reduction in Agricultural Products.
MAFF believes the tool can help create a direct link between emissions reduction activities undertaken by farmers and emissions reporting conducted by downstream food companies.
Moving forward, MAFF said it will continue expanding collaboration with the consortium, as well as with food companies, distributors and financial institutions, to encourage wider use of the calculation sheet and support GHG reduction efforts across the food supply chain.
It said the initiative represents an important step under Japan’s Green Acceleration GX Plan released in June.
