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Five snapshots from Beef 2024's sustainability framework update
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Sustainability Steering Committee chair Mark Davie
THE Australian Beef Sustainability Framework has today released its
eighth annual update - with live export, carbon accounting and
deforestation all on the agenda.
Stakeholders from across the supply chain gathered in Rockhampton this
morning to discuss some of the finer points of the framework and its
role in keeping the industry moving forward.
Sustainability Steering Committee chair **Mark Davie** launched the
latest report, with an honest assessment of the direction of the
framework and the data it will need going forward. He was followed by
a fleeting speech from agriculture minister Murray Watt and a panel
discussion with National Australia Bank, Teys and McDonald's.
Beef Central went along and pulled out five key threads from the
presentations.
#### Sustainability chair defends live export
With animal welfare being a part of the sustainability framework, Mr
Davie was keen to point out the low mortality rates seen on live
export boats - of 0.05pc. He said he was concerned that the sector was
having trouble accessing finance on sustainability grounds.
"This rate is a testament to more than regulation, but to the
implementation of processes by the industry every single day," Mr
Davie said.
"Our live export industry provides an enormous service to global food
security and to animal welfare - we export animal welfare to the
world."
Mr Davie said he was concerned about banks taking positions against
funding live export.
"What are the sustainability grounds on this? they should have to
demonstrate them against their financial services licenses. If you are
interested in sustainability, this industry is continuing to put up
the numbers," he said.
"There are millions of children under five in south-east Asia that
suffer from sever acute malnutrition and any impost on industry will
be an impost on our customers and to their food security."
Speaking to some members of the live export industry after the event,
Beef Central asked if any work had been done to demonstrate the impact
the live export industry has on its destination countries.
LiveCorp currently has a tender on its website to research the
subject.
#### Murray Watt calls on EU to delay deforestation policy
Federal agriculture minister **Murray Watt** made a quick stop into
the event and delivered a speech about the importance of the
sustainability framework - particularly the environmental side of it.
"We have a lot of debates in this country and whether it is real," he
said.
"No matter what you believe, you need to acknowledge that market is
moving on this and if we want to have a competitive beef industry for
generations to come we need to move with it."
One of the big market movements coming on the environmental
sustainability front, is legislation from the European Union to ban
the import of goods linked to deforestation - including beef - by
December.
Minister Watt said he had written to the EU outlining his concerns
about the legislation and asked them to delay the rollout.
"We think that the way we produce beef in this country is
significantly different to other countries that this legislation might
be targeted towards," he said.
"There is a lot of confusion from the Australian beef industry about
what this rule will mean for the Australian beef industry. We think it
is a sensible approach for the EU to delay this legislation and other
countries in Europe have been making the same point."
#### Producer pushes back on "hard to abate" rhetoric
In making his announcement, Minister Watt mentioned that agriculture
was a "hard to abate" - meaning it is going to be hard for the
industry to reduce its emissions.
Central Qld producer and Cattle Australia board member Adam Coffey
stood up and asked for industry stop using the rhetoric.
"We even use it within industry and it is actually not a 'hard to
abate' sector, it is a hard to quantify sector," he said.
"We are prepared to lead this work and I would implore our supply
chain partners to work with us because there is so much opportunity to
get this right. In a global sense, we are actually on the cutting edge
about our understanding of this issue."
#### More work needed on emissions reporting metrics
On the reporting metrics, a key claim for the sustainability framework
update was a 78pc net reduction in emissions between 2005 and 2021.
Mr Davie said while it was good news for the industry, there were some
points to make about the figure.
"This an immensely positive numbers but it is also extremely
complicated. It reflects a point in time where our landscape was
responding after drought, the herd was increasing and our
sequestration outweighed the increase in emissions by a lot," he said.
"Importantly, our methodologies still cannot account for carbon
sequestered in the soil and it still needs to be further evolved so we
can fully report the beef industry's story with emissions.
"Given our last measurement was in 2021, we need to work together to
make a more accurate and timely measure of our carbon account.
"More importantly, we need more recognition of the role of carbon in
agriculture and the role of the biogenic carbon cycle."
#### Clear definitions needed for deforestation targets
Mr Davie has long been critical of other deforestation regulation
being set by the European Union, raising concerns about definitions
not being backed by credible peer reviewed science. This update he
also raised concerns about the Science Based Targets initiative for
company targets, which is bringing in similar deforestation policy.
"These requirements, which include definitions of forest height and
canopy, do not relate to bioregions and they ignore extensive
environmental research undertaken in an Australian context," Mr Davie
said.
"Nature preservation can and does go hand in hand with beef
production. But sustainability intent must extend beyond corporate
reporting to appease global standards or simply to achieve executive
performance targets.
"The most important aspect of sustainability is outcomes."
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