NILU AB (NILUAB)
Leading Tasks
T4.1: Case study preparation and coordination
Lead: NILUAB (5PM).
Effort by contributors: NILU (3PM), ULAT (2PM), UOXF (1PM), HKR (1PM). Timing: M1-49. This task will set the frames and the boundaries for the case studies in order to get credible pathways to reduce pollution from food production. This will be fulfilled by workshops and dialogs among the task leaders of the WP. This task also includes the coordination of the WP. Contributes to:
D4.1 (M12).
T4.2: Exploring Solutions
Lead: NILUAB (11PM).
Effort by contributors: ULAT (7PM), HKR (6PM), ETHZ (2PM), CHALMERS (2PM), TETRA (1PM), SANTAMAR (1PM). Timing: M1-49. This Task consists of four case studies. Case study 1, on Sustainable spices (participants: SANTAMAR,) will assess the value chain of spices and estimate the environmental impact and improvement potential. Spices have been identified as the factor that can make European consumers accept novel foods. Therefore, in a system perspective it is of highly importance that the spices are produced in a lifecycle with minimum environmental impact. Firstly, identification of suitable spices for novel foods will take place together with industry. Then the system boundary of the study will be set as well as the functional unit. Data will be collected along the life cycle with site specific quality at the industry and at least country specific for the other parts of the life cycle. Several environmental impact categories will be assessed as for example climate impact, eutrophication, acidification, biodiversity and water usage. The improvement actions and potential challenges to decrease the environmental impact will be identified and assessed. Case study 1, on the Footprint of Seaweed (participants: ULAT) will assess the European seaweed value chain and estimate the potential environmental benefits from the implementation of seaweed in the food system. A systematic analysis of scientific literature, reports, and databases will be conducted to collect data on seaweed cultivation, nutritional value, processing technologies, and environmental impacts. Information will be scrutinised to estimate the potential environmental impact reduction achievable through seaweed implementation in the food system. Consultations and interviews with industry experts, stakeholders, potential end-users, and researchers will be undertaken to obtain valuable insights into seaweed cultivation and food innovation. The feasibility of integrating seaweed into the food chain will be assessed, taking into account factors such as scalability, sustainability, and economic viability. Case study 3, on the Footprint of Insect Meal for Human and Pet Food (Lead: HKR, participants: NILU AB, TETRAPAK) aims to develop tasty and sustainable food products based on insects. In parallel also pet food will be developed. One option in the transformation to a future sustainable food system is to use insects as food. Insects contain proteins with all essential amino acids and may be compared to beef or fish. Further, insects also contain poly-unsaturated and essential fatty acids. In comparison to both beef and fish the climate impact of rearing insects is low, and the production of protein is far more effective. The fulfilment of the aim is done by following actions: Development of recipes based on insects for both human and animal (pets) consumption. There will be a minimum of four varieties of the food where meat will be replaced by different amounts of insects, from 0% to 100% replacement. Both products, intended for humans and pets, are wet foods meant for shelf stable distribution. The products will be packaged and subjected for retort processing. For human food samples sensory profiles and consumer acceptance will be performed. For pet food samples acceptance tests will be performed in a test with pets. Calculations of nutritional value and climate impact. Strategies for increasing the acceptance of foods for humans and pets based on insects will be developed. Case study 4, on the Footprint of Cellular Agriculture (participant: CHALMERS) will assess the sustainability improvement potential as well as improve the existing LCA data of cellular agriculture. This is achieved by performing an inventory of the published LCA studies on cultivated meat and seafood. Assessing the future potential volume of production of cultivated meat in the EU. How much current meat consumption can we realistically replace with cultivated meat in the EU, and what would be the gain in reduction of the EU's environmental impact? Contributes to:
D4.2 (M24).
This task is linked to the following milestones: MS4.1 (M30).
T4.5: Quantify the opportunity for gains from novel food solutions
Lead: NILUAB (11PM).
Effort by contributors: NILU (4PM), UOY (2PM), ULAT (2PM), BUW (2PM), ZHAW (2PM), ULEI (1PM), UOXF (1PM), HKR (1PM), TETRA (1PM). Timing: M1-49. This task will make concluding quantified assessment of credible pathways to reduce pollution from food production based on the case studies. Information of the food system interventions, their impacts and reduction potential across multiple environmental impacts will be described based on the result of task 4.2-3. The barriers and enabling factors will be identified and related to interventions which weaken and strengthen the impact reduction potential of good practices. The result will be used as an input to Task 3.6 where the consumption data for each European country will be added in order to expand the system result from individual food items to country level. Contributes to:
D4.5 (M44).
Responsible For Milestones
MS4.1: Preliminary LCA results from case studies
Means of verification: Presentation at M30 consortium meeting.
Due M30.
Lead Partner: NILUAB
Contributions in WP4
Contributing 1PM to:
T4.3: Exploring Solutions: Novel Business Cases for Efficient cold chains
Lead: BUW (15PM).
Effort by contributors: NILU (3PM), NILUAB (1PM). Timing: M1-48. This task will demonstrate the potential of decreasing carbon emission and realise sustainable development synergies of scaling international low-carbon cold chains. Building on existing and new data collected through existing partnerships with fishing cooperatives in Uganda and Kenya, this task models the fish export supply chain from East Africa to the EU to estimate its carbon footprint, and assesses different integrated cold chain and energy system design specifications to minimise carbon emissions and maximise local development benefits in Africa. This task also uses semi-structured interviews in East Africa and the EU to assess implementation pathways of different servitization-based business model innovations for increasing cold chain coverage in Africa. Contributes to:
D4.4 (M24).
Contributions in WP5
Contributing 1PM to:
T5.4: Standard uptake through engagement with the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group
Lead: CLIMCO (23PM).
Effort by contributors: GLOBE (2PM), NILU (1PM), NILUAB (1PM), ULEI (1PM), UOY (1PM), COOL (1PM). Timing: M1-48. DDMXX this should not appear since we should not re-initailize again in tasks.ts. To support EU disclosure regulation a continuous effort will be dedicated to integrating the insights acquired from this and adjacent portfolio projects into the development relevant sustainability reporting standard setters, including EFRAG and others, e.g. GRI and/or ISSB considering evolving policy contexts. Particular attention will be given to supporting European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), focussing on the sector-specific standards for the food and beverages sector. Two team members from Climate & Company are seconded to EFRAG’s writing team for the sector standards Agriculture, Farming and Fishing as well as Food and Beverages. They will be able to include significant insights from GREENGROCER into shaping the disclosure requirements of the latter. While EFRAG remains a key standard setter to engage, we recommend broadening our engagement to include other relevant standard setters, particularly GRI and potentially ISSB. This broadened approach is especially important considering the EU Commission’s Omnibus Proposal, which increases the relative relevance of voluntary, internationally recognized standards like GRI. Including those stakeholders, too, could enhance the project’s relevance and impact. The development of the Food and Beverages standard relies on leveraging scientific insights into the ESG impacts of food and beverage systems to formulate disclosure requirements that are both ambitious in addressing the needs of people and the planet, while also being practical and feasible for companies to report on. Furthermore, the insights of this project will help to create meaningful and comparable data that is used by financial institutions to make informed investment decisions, necessary for the sustainable transition. Milestones: M5.2 Introduction of GreenGrocer activities to the ESRS working group (M24). In this task we will create an online platform (exact format TBD) that will highlight and help match innovative solutions developed in the project and challenges and information gaps in sustainability disclosure field, especially within regard to the food sector. By explicitly showcasing both solutions and challenges, we can better match innovative approaches with existing needs and help project outputs to take policy needs into consideration more easily and timely. This platform would serve as an interface between solution providers (e.g. researchers from the project consortium) and those that need them (e.g. standard setters). While standard-setters (EFRAG and others) are an important audience, we envision the platform and its content being accessible and informative to a broader group, including companies aiming to improve their sustainability reporting and the financial sector developing financing solutions for the transition. Similarly, we could also showcase relevant solutions beyond the project through the platform. While active engagement by different groups directly on / through the platform would be valuable, the platform can also function as a resource for us to extract insights and share them with relevant contacts. Contributes to:
D5.3 (M22).
This task is linked to the following milestones: MS5.2 (M24).
Contributing 1PM to:
T5.5: Develop policy recommendations for selected EU countries
Lead: NILU (3PM).
Effort by contributors: COOL (2PM), NILUAB (1PM), ULEI (1PM), UOXF (0.5PM). Timing: M18-48. The insights from analysis of different improvement domains (waste, diets, sourcing, agri-innovation) and case study analysis (WP3 and WP4) will be contextualised for selected, complementary countries identified as interesting based on the insights gained. This contextualisation will consider the feasibility of food transition pathways with high impact reduction potential, in view of existing national policies, governance, and contexts of food production, consumption and trade. Through the project we will work to facilitate direct conversations between members of the project consortium and key stakeholders, particularly between researchers and: (1) The financial sector (e.g., to help banks develop financing solutions for the food sector’s transition)., (2) Standard setters (e.g., EFRAG, and potentially others such as GRI)., and (3) Companies in the food sector preparing their sustainability reports and facing challenges in assessing risks and impacts within their value chains. We will aim at organizing at least two workshops between project consortium members and decision-makers in these areas to ensure practical, user-informed outputs and visibility / increased impact for project outputs. Contributes to:
D5.4 (M46), D5.5 (M24).
Contributions in WP6
Contributing 2PM to:
T6.1: Management of financial legal and administrative requirements
Lead: NILU (9PM).
Effort by contributors: NILUAB (2PM), UOY (2PM), ETHZ (1PM), GLOBE (1PM), SEI (1PM), UOXF (1PM), ARBO (1PM), COOL (1PM), CLIMCO (1PM), ULAT (1PM), BUW (1PM), DDS (1PM), ZHAW (1PM), ULEI (0.5PM), INTEC (0.5PM). Timing: M1-49. In this task we will manage and coordinate all financial and administrative activities in the project, including monitoring and maintaining the overall adherence to the financial budgets. T1.1 will deliver a project toolbox to ensure a smooth communication and cooperation between the project partners. This task will forward the EU contribution according to the work plan, the Consortium Agreement and the decisions made by the consortium. The administrative and financial monitoring of the project will be done by the project coordinator in cooperation with the Project Management Board (coordinator and WP leaders).
Contributing 2PM to:
T6.6: Gender and ethics dimensions
Lead: NILU (8PM).
Effort by contributors: NILUAB (2PM). Timing: M1-7. The objective of this task is to ensure that relevant ethical principles, including research ethics, gender issues, and RRI (Responsible Research and Innovation) are addressed in the execution of GREENGROCER. It will review data management for privacy issues and compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation where relevant, review the methodological setup of models which could have a gender or ethics dimension, including the proposed AI model under Task 2.4 and facilitate the education of the project consortium in elements such as ethical impact assessment and responsible research and innovation. Ethics workshop will support the development of understanding and inclusion of ethics aspects in the project. This task links in particular to WP2, WP3, and WP5. Contributes to:
D6.3 (M6).