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September 2023 Editorial

Carbon reduction targets are an important step in the journey towards meeting the commitment of the 2015 Paris climate accord. Businesses are important contributors to global warming and are equally important stakeholders in providing solutions to mitigate impacts and adapt.

What do we know from science? The aquaculture sector contributes 0.49 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Fish farming’s carbon footprint is 90 percent lower than animal products’ and lower than that of wild fisheries according to a 2021 study. Around 80 percent of the carbon emissions of aquaculture farming come from the feed. Furthermore, environmental impacts (inputs and releases) do not just occur on the production unit. 

From marine ingredients producers to fish processors and feed manufacturers, every stakeholder within the value chain is playing a role and there is not a month with no announcement being made by companies around setting carbon reduction targets. These are increasingly based on independently verified data and alignment with the Science Based Targets initiative. This is important: reducing emissions cannot be achieved quickly or in isolation and 2030 is the next milestone for many stakeholders.

IFFO proposes a life cycle assessment methodology to its members, based on EU calculation requirements and in alignment with the Global Feed Life Cycle Institute public database. The next step is to contribute to a broader value chain initiative, by reporting our work to members of the Global Roundtable on Marine Ingredients and making our collected data available to all, so cross sectoral comparisons among feed ingredients are possible.