Lion has today announced its commitment to become Australasia’s first large-scale carbon neutral brewer in 2020, by compounding their carbon reduction program with certified carbon credits that will offset the organisation’s remaining carbon footprint.
The pledge was announced today at the relaunch of the Australian Government’s carbon neutral certification, Climate Active. Lion joins 83 businesses that are certifying their carbon neutral status with Climate Active, described as one of the most rigorous and credible carbon neutral certifications available.
Stuart Irvine, CEO of Lion, said the company had been taking proactive steps towards this milestone for many years.
“Since setting a target to reduce our carbon footprint by 30 per cent by 2025 from its 2015 baseline, Lion has established a ‘whole brewery’ carbon reduction approach across its portfolio, including energy efficiency, biogas utilisation, rooftop solar, renewable energy power purchase agreements (PPAs), through to providing brewers grain to reduce livestock emissions. In doing so, we have achieved a 13 per cent (approximately 13,000 tonnes) reduction in its absolute carbon footprint of approximately 93,000 tonnes of CO2. Lion is on track to meet its target by 2025,” Irvine said.
Irvine continued, describing that the certification shows their commitment to climate action, which will send a powerful signal to the rest of the industry as well as consumers, and prompt further positive and proactive change.
“We remain committed to reducing energy intensity in production over time, by constantly pushing the boundaries of efficiency and adopting industry-leading innovation. Speed is of the essence in stabilising the climate,” he said.
Climate Active director, Daniel Sheedy, also confirmed this positive message and said that businesses who voluntarily undergo certification represent climate leadership.
“Businesses can help drive change by undertaking Climate Active certification, signalling a commitment to an environmentally-sustainable future to consumers. Lion’s announcement that it will seek to be carbon neutral certified underlines the credibility of Climate Active and will hopefully inspire other businesses to follow their lead and become carbon neutral certified,” said Sheedy.
Lion said that from next year, they will offset 107,000 tonnes of carbon. This is the equivalent of Lion’s remaining direct manufacturing emissions and some indirect emissions linked to business activity (including those regarding business travel).
Over the next three years, Lion will also work to explore options for product certification through collaborations within the supply chain to tackle emissions such as those embodied in ingredients, packaging and transport. Such action will complement reduction initiatives that have intensified significantly over the past two years, completely transforming the operations of some of its oldest and most iconic breweries.
Australia’s largest buyer of carbon offsets, Tasman Environmental Markets, is providing Lion with a portfolio of verified projects to offset the remaining organisational carbon footprint. To be announced next year, the projects will focus on bush regeneration and conversation projects to cut carbon emissions while protecting native habitats and wildlife.
The final addition to Lion’s suite of carbon abatement strategies has also been announced. In effect, this will introduce an internal price on carbon at Lion, pushing the reduction of more emissions across the supply chain.