Responsible sourcing: Views from Mars and the chalk face. Mike Berners-Lee An Associate Company of Lancaster University
Very quick background Books A sustainability consultancy largely focussed largely on supply chains BT, Booths, Taylor Wimpey, lots of SMEs in many industries, public sector, Lancaster University, Eden Project, Research Science Museum, Guardian, community projects ...
Types of impact Indirect Direct
If those products could talk …. We want We’ve We want a long got a to be lives history looked after We don’t We want want to be We want to be buried an after ‘net good’ alive life
Most supply chains are complex and opaque Our understanding can never be exact but it can be ‘good enough’
Bringing transparency to supply chains Meat sales up 30% during the horsemeat scandal
UK government increasingly understands embedded impacts
We need an up to date understanding of what ‘responsible’ looks like
An Exponential curve
Carbon emissions since 1850
Carbon emissions since 1850
No encouraging signs from the last few years
Efficiency is part of the growth dynamic
50% chance of <2 o C – peaking in 2020
Responsibility entails mapping the issues and priorities
We need a carbon instinct like we have a money instinct
Mapping the Greenhouse gas impacts of supermarket products The Mapa Mundi for Booths • kgCO2e 0.000 0.500 1.000 1.500 2.000 2.500 3.000 3.500 Covers the whole range • (2) BEER AND CIDER Potatoes Source ingredients to farm / factory Tomatoes gate • Enables GHG emissions to be Food processing factored into marketing and sourcing Green salads Total consumer decisions Prepared Veg., fruit & salad packaging footprint Exotic veg and mushrooms Transit packaging Apples & Pears • Full reports are Bananas Transport publically available. Emissions to DC Citrus and melons Transport Exotic fruit and berries (including soft,… emissions from all (67) FLORISTRY DCs to Stores Results and models are now used by • Storage and (84) CABINETS COOKED MEATS processing at DC universities and think tanks for Cabinets Milk Overhead (exc. research. Ready meals, pizza & pasta refrigeration) Sandwiches Refrigeration (52) BREAD • Affordable (70) FROZEN FOODS
Typical UK Person: 15 tonnes per year
Hong Kong return: 4.6 tonnes Average Low 3.4 tonnes High 13.4 tonnes 4.6 tonnes Economy First class
Drying your hands: 10g Low Average 0 g 10 g 20g typical hand Paper drier Let them towels drip
Laptop: 400Kg embodied Average High Low 400 Kg ~1 tonne ~100Kg A simple 2010 21.5 low cost inch iMac laptop
Laptop: ~50g / hour operational 150g 12g 63 Kg Energy Power hungry Old desktop efficient iMac or similar laptop
Data Centres 2010: 130 million tonnes CO 2 e Prediction for 2020: 250 – 340 million tonnes CO 2 e
Mapping supply chain impacts
Process Based Life Cycle Analysis
Percentage of emissions captured with cumulative tiers of the supply chain. 100.0% 90.0% 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% Agriculture Metal ores extraction Plastic products 50.0% Non-ferrous metals Motor vehicles 40.0% Telecommunications 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Direct Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4
PAS 2050 – Review of methods “Experts highlighted particularly two weaknesses of PLCA: cost and labour intensity of carrying out a PLCA and the system boundary problem … “system cut - off” is unavoidable in PLCA …The cut -off criteria suggested by ISO can be misleading and do not provide a satisfactory basis for a transparent system boundary selection…. The (resulting) truncation error is potentially very large. …” “…This is further aggravated when restrictions are imposed on the budget as typical in simplified PLCA approaches. Such simplified approaches usually fail to reliably reproduce results from detailed PLCA . However, only simplified PLCAs work under tight budget constraints required for the PAS to be applicable to organisations of all sizes. This seriously limits the usefulness of PLCA for the PAS development.”
Input Output Analysis Looks at the whole economy divided into industry sectors.
Input Output Analysis Demand for products stimulates output across the economy….
Input Output Analysis …. causing both direct and indirect emissions…
Input Output Analysis …. the ripple effects are endless…
Input Output Analysis …. the ripple effects are endless… but can be modelled as a complete system… …without systematic underestimation
A hybrid methodology is usually the most practical way to get a reasonable understanding +
Summary questions • What does responsible look like in 2013? • How can standards ensure the real priorities are addressed – within a finite resource? • How can standards work for small players ? • How can supply chains become transparent • How can standards be greenwash proof ?
Thank you for listening Any questions? Mike Berners-Lee mike@sw-consulting.co.uk An Associate Company of Lancaster University
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