Fazer joins the Carbon Action platform
Fazer makes updates to the Baltic Sea Commitment the company made to Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG) in 2018 by joining the Carbon Action platform and introducing carbon farming practices into its Grain Vision.
Being a major purchaser of grains Fazer acknowledges its responsibility for developing sustainable farming practices. BSAG has cooperated with Fazer since 2013 when Fazer made its first Baltic Sea Commitment. As part of its first Commitment, Fazer, together with its farmers, developed a Grain Vision and ten principles of sustainable farming through which the Grain Vision is implemented. The aim of the Grain Vision is to decrease the eutrophication of lakes, rivers, and the Baltic Sea, to protect biodiversity and soil fertility and to reduce the use of chemicals in farming. Now, Fazer makes updates to its second five-year Baltic Sea Commitment made in 2018 by joining the Carbon Action platform and making climate change mitigation and carbon sequestration an integral part of its Grain Vision.
The capacity of the soil to sequester carbon and mitigate climate change can be increased by taking care of the soil and the farmland. The Carbon Action platform, led by BSAG and the Finnish Meteorological Institute, combines research and practical work to fight climate change. Carbon Action finds ways of speeding up the storing of carbon in the soil from the atmosphere and confirming the increased storage scientifically. Carbon Action also promotes farming practices that store carbon (i.e. carbon farming) on Finnish farms and include the farmers in the research process. The platform enables researchers and businesses to exchange information and learn from one another.
The Grain Vision is a part of Fazer’s Baltic Sea Commitment and responsibility work
The Grain Vision is implemented through ten principles of sustainable farming. The principles, put out in 2017, were developed based on existing best practices in cooperation with farmers, farmer associations and environmental organizations. The use of chemicals and the treatment of the soil are among the issues the principles regulate. Originally, they were mainly focused on preventing eutrophication. Fazer continuously monitors the principles since farming practices are constantly evolving. Joining the Carbon Action platform supports Fazer’s sustainability goals and carbon farming practices now become a part of Fazer’s Grain Vision.
“The same means and actions can often be used to tackle both eutrophication and climate change. Our goal is, that by 2025, all Finnish grain we use will have been grown in compliance with the principles of sustainable farming,” explains Nina Elomaa, Sustainability Director at Fazer Group.
”It’s great seeing our long-term environmental cooperation with Fazer evolving and expanding into new territories,” says Laura Höijer, Content Director at BSAG. ”A large actor such as Fazer can significantly contribute to the scaling up of carbon sequestration in arable lands”, Höijer continues.
The Carbon Action business platform, managed by BSAG, brings together major companies from different parts of the food chain. Corporate cooperation facilitates the innovation of carbon neutral products and ensures that the message reaches the consumers. The ways food is produced and consumed have a large impact on the environment, our societies and our wellbeing. Fazer joining the Carbon Action cooperation presents new opportunities of solving the problems we are faced with.
