New Environmental Accounting and Reporting Guide for Controlled Environment Ag Operations
Resource Innovation Institute (RII) has announced the availability of its “Guide to Environmental Accounting and Reporting for Controlled Environment Agriculture Operations.” Resulting from the work of the CEA Footprint Project over the past year, the how-to guide proposes standardized environmental accounting and reporting systems and methodologies, and encourages their market adoption across CEA operations.
“Comparing resource outputs and inputs at a facility level and across agricultural segments is increasingly critical for CEA investors and operators, as well as governments and utilities,” says Derek Smith, Executive Director of Resource Innovation Institute. “Agreement on how resources are measured is particularly important, as is the establishment of boundaries determined within the measurement systems. The sooner data can be standardized, collected and analyzed, the quicker and better decision makers can guide efficiency and decarbonization strategies and incentives.”
A collaborative initiative by RII, producers and stakeholders, the CEA Footprint Project was formed to advance market understanding of CEA environmental impacts and resilience potential through the establishment of consistent and verifiable accounting and reporting standards. In order to develop the Guide to Environmental & Accounting Reporting, CEA Footprint Project members from the U.S. and Europe came together in early 2023 to discuss the most important Key Performance Indicators they use and value in their facilities, as well as to agree on which KPIs are relevant to internal and external audiences, in addition to where in the production process CEA operators should measure data. The group also aggregated detailed guidance on how producers should consider representing CEA-related Scope 3 carbon emissions boundaries and methodologies.
Participating producers that contributed to the guide included:
- Hannah Bouline, Director of Impact and Sustainability, Vertical Harvest Farms
- Gillon Dobie, Impact Director, Grow Up Farms
- Michele Grossman, Sustainability Director, Equilibrium Capital on behalf of Revol Greens
- Laura Hann, Director of Sustainability, Local Bounti
- Erik Lundgren, Chief Research & Development Officer, Ljusgarda.
- Doug Meikle, Financial Planning & Sustainability Manager, Grow Up Farms
- Matthew Meisel, Chief Development Officer, Little Leaf Farms
- Colin O’Neil, Director of Public Policy & Social Impact, Bowery Farming
- Annie Wissemeier, Sustainability Senior Manager, 80 Acres Farm
For more, continue reading at ResourceInnovation.org.
