“That actually dropped our total GHG emissions globally in scope one and two by 6.5% for the whole co-op,” Whineray said.
Scope one emissions are defined as direct emissions from owned or controlled sources and scope two emissions are indirect emissions such as steam, heating and cooling.
He says the conversion of its Stirling plant was the next part of that roadmap.
“Having committed to get out of coal by 2037 from the nine remaining sites, Te Awamutu provided material GHG reductions and further confidence to undertake our next project at our Stirling cheese site in the South Island. Stirling will become our first 100% renewable thermal energy site,” he said.
Fonterra had also made progress around sourcing alternative fuels for some of its larger plants particularly around biomass.
“There was some commentary out there that there wasn’t enough biomass. We have done the studies and we are confident that the biomass is there and available,” he said.
Inside the farm gate, this is the first season Fonterra has run its co-operative difference payment to incentivise farmers to make environmental improvements inside the farm gate.
For the 2020-21 season, there was a 25% increase in farms achieving Te Tihi (the top) and Te Puku (the midpoint), with around a third of its farmer owners recognised in the overall programme.
He says those percentages use previous benchmarks as a starting point.
“It’s a good improvement. They are 10 times the off-farm emissions and if we reduce on-farm emissions by 10% – and there’s a lot of research and technology going into this – a 10% reduction on the farm is the same as removing all of the emissions off-farm,” he said.
In addition to valuing milk quality, it rewards farmers for on-farm demonstration of care for the environment, animals, people and community.
Fonterra wanted to retain the global advantage New Zealand’s farming systems gave it.
The number of farmers with farm environment plans (FEPs) in place also climbed from 34%-53%, despite the disruptions caused by covid-19.
Whineray says the co-operative is on track to meet its target of 100% of its farms with a FEP by 2025.
“These are not downloads from Google. These are customised plans for each farm using our experts and advisers,” he said.
On its people goals, while there has been improvement towards diversity targets, he says there is room for improvement when it comes to women and ethnic minorities in senior leadership positions.
“Our gender pay gap has narrowed across all job categories. In New Zealand the co-op is now down to 3.8% on a median basis, compared to the national average of 9.5%,” he said.
“We have also recently extended our parental leave in New Zealand so employees will now have their government parental leave cover topped up to 100% of base salary or wages for 26 weeks.”
