life cycle based ecolabeling for agricultural products in austria

11/28/2012 1

Sustainability

Assessment , Solutions and Applied Research

28/11/2012 MDEC - DG SANCO [email protected]

Life Cycle Based Ecolabeling for Agricultural Products in Austria

the GLOBAL 2000 adaptive labeling approach for agricultural products

Martin Wildenberg, Tanja Altaparmakova, Kewin Comploi, Dominik Frieling

11/28/2012 2

Sustainability



Sustainability Assessment , Solutions and Applied Research

Structure of the talkSome thoughts on green claimsWho we do it

The systemResultsSuccess factors

11/28/2012 6

Sustainability


28/11/2012 MDEC - DG SANCO [email protected]/5/2012 611/28/2012 6


What is a green product?

A product that is environmentally friendly according to resource use and emissions along the whole life cycle and is produced under fair conditions.

11/28/2012 7

Sustainability




First Challenge: Sustainability is

complexComple

x

11/28/2012 8

Sustainability




First Challenge:

marketing relies on simple massages

Simple

11/28/2012 9

Sustainability




Second Challenge:

Different views on sustainability exist

1+1 = Sustainability

∫(x) =SUSTAINABILITY

11/28/2012 10

Sustainability




Third Challenge:

Requires trust – that easily can be

destroyed by others

11/28/2012 11

Sustainability




Fourth Challenge:

Some times messages are really simple but do not go along with marketing strategies

Consume less

11/28/2012 13

Sustainability



The GLOBAL 2000 adaptive labeling approach for sustainable agricultural products

Aim: • set incentives for farmers, distributors and retailers to adopt a

more sustainable production mode • inform consumers about environmental impacts of their

choices.

11/28/2012 14

Sustainability



Use case: Pro Planet – Austria fruit vegetable and eggs

The Label

In Germany & Austria- Identify & resolve social and ecological hot-spots

in the production chain

In Austria:

For fruits, vegetables and eggs:

Cooperation between Caritas, REWE International AG & GLOBAL 2000

11/28/2012 15

Sustainability



The building blocks of the programG

ood

Agr

icul

tura

l P

ract

ice

Glo

bal G

ap

Soc

ial P

ract

ice

GR

AS

P &

SA

800

0C

arita

s

Co

nsu

me

r S

afe

tyP

estic

ide

Mon

itorin

g P

RP

Ecological SustainabilityIndicator setRules and regulationsStakeholder process

11/28/2012 16

Sustainability



The focus of our indicator system

11/28/2012 17

Sustainability



Farm based indicators

N-balance

P-balance

Humus-balance

Pesticide use

Energy intensity

Calculated by INL using the model REPRO (Hülsbergen et al 2003)

11/28/2012 18

Sustainability



Per service unit indicators:

Carbon-footprint

Biotic Material Input

A-biotic Material Input

Water input

Area usedField to shelf

11/28/2012 19

Sustainability



Field records (machine use etc.)Pesticide useYieldsIn case of fruit rotation the

data should cover at least three years

Data on other inputs (energy & materials) collection via standardized form

Calculated by using factors from the EcoInvent Database

Data needed:

11/28/2012 21

Sustainability



Transparency over production chain

Information about CO2 footprint of apple juice at proplanet-label.at

11/28/2012 23

Sustainability



The Soft side of Labeling:

InvolvementKnowledge exchangeEducation

= Participation

11/28/2012 24

Sustainability



Stakeholder Process

BenchmarkingRegulations

Hotspots

Participants:• Producer• Distributor• Producer-organization• Quality Management• Experts• GLOBAL 2000• Caritas

11/28/2012 25

Sustainability



Results

After starting with the labeling of Austrian open-land strawberries in June 2010…

• Over 500 farms have submitted data in 2012• 25 product groups have been screened from which • 17 products labeled. • 50+ stakeholder workshops have been conducted

11/28/2012 27

Sustainability



Comparing production systems

11/28/2012 28

Sustainability



biotischer in

put kg /

kg

abiotisch

input k

g / kg

Fläc

he m² /

kg

Wass

er m³ /

kg

CO2e eq. Kg /

kg0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

Tomato Greenhouse AUT (Gas-heating)Tomato Greenhouse AUT (comunity heating)Cocktail Tomato ESP (tunnel)Tomato ESP (tunnel)Tomato AUT (tunnel)

11/28/2012 29

Sustainability



Paprik

a FT

Tom

atoe

s (p

. t.)

Rad

ish

Lettu

ceC

hine

se C

abba

ge

Cab

bage

Iceb

erg

Lettu

ceStra

wbe

rryH

orse

radi

sh

Potat

oeG

rape

s IT

A

Oni

on

Apple

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

1 2 2

45 5 5 5

7

9

15 15

16

Pesticide use index

Pro-Planet product

Comparing products:

11/28/2012 30

Sustainability



Comparing producers:Variation in Pesticide Index in 138 apple producers

0,0

5,0

10,0

15,0

20,0

25,0

30,0

35,0

40,0

Pflanzenschutz-Index

Häufigkeit und Menge von Pestizid-Anwendungen 2011

Pflanzenschutzindex Pro Planet-ÄpfelIhr Betrieb (Mittelw ert aller Schläge)OptimumgrenzeToleranzgrenze

Pfla

nze

ns

ch

utz

-In

de

x

11/28/2012 33

Sustainability



Ten Success factors1. Largely relying on data that is available and recorded anyway

2. Indicators point at hotspots

3. Indicators cover resource use, emissions & health

4. Improvements can be quantified & communicated

5. Indicators are relevant for producers

6. Life cycle approach – transparency and responsibility over production chain

7. Third party assessments

8. Stakeholder involvement

9. Cooperation with important stakeholders: supermarket-chain, GlobalG.A.P. and farm management software

10. Constant evaluation, adaptation and further development

11/28/2012 35

Sustainability



Vision for green labeling:1. GDA for environmental impact (combination

of general and product specific indicators)2. Make use of labeling & certification process3. Easy access of environmental product

information for customers (low barriers from label to product information)

= iImpact

11/28/2012 36

Sustainability



Thank You!

life cycle based ecolabeling for agricultural products in austria

Documents

applied research assessment

applied research transparency

applied research farm

applied research structure

applied researchdata

applied researchuse

applied researchlife

production chainin austria