Environmental
We operate sustainably and support our customers to do the same. We care about the environmental issues affecting our industry and the planet.
Our impact
Advancing environmental agriculture sustainability
We’re developing an approach to support our customers and the agriculture industry to address climate impacts, beginning with the launch of the customer sustainability incentive pilot program.
Reducing operational emissions
We’re on track to reduce FCC greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2025 through the reduction of 307 tonnes this year. We set an ambition to be net-zero aligned in our internal operations.
Understanding climate-related risks
We published our second climate-related disclosures, which can be found in our annual report, and highlight FCC’s processes for identifying and assessing physical and transition risks.
Minimizing e-waste
We donated 1,011 laptops, 480 cells phones and other computer accessories to non-profit organizations across Canada.
Reforesting globally
We offset our paper consumption this year by reforesting 312 trees in global reforestation projects.
Our progress
Supporting our customers' sustainability journeys
Sustainability has become a principle driving the agriculture and food industry. FCC has an opportunity to enable Canada to be a world leader in sustainable agriculture and food production. Within our ESG program, we’re exploring how FCC can provide sustainability and environmental-focused financing, knowledge, tools and innovation for our customers.
Producers are key to growing a more sustainable future for agriculture, and these changes require research, time and capital. To understand FCC’s ability to drive the adoption of sustainable practices, we launched a Sustainability Incentive Program pilot in May 2022. The pilot encourages customers to participate in sector-specific sustainability programs with incentive payments for those who qualify in meeting the criteria of those programs. This allows FCC to work with industry partners to understand their unique needs so we can better tailor our activities. Initiatives under the 2022 program included partnerships with the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB), McCain’s Regenerative Agriculture Framework and Cargill’s Canadian RegenConnectTM Program.
FCC is exploring how software can be a tool in helping producers on their sustainability journeys. In 2022-23, research was completed to help better understand customer and industry needs around on-farm sustainability. As a result, a multi-phased experiment was conducted between FCC’s AgExpert Software and the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Holos model. The experiment proved that customer data in AgExpert could be shared with the Holos model to calculate an individual farm’s net carbon sequestration result. The next steps of the experiment involve streamlining the data-sharing process, working on the accuracy of the model and displaying the model output in a way that’s more easily understood by our customers.
Historically, venture investment in Canada’s agri-food value chain has not been significant and FCC wants to change that by acting as a catalyst to increase investment in ag and create a simpler path for entrepreneurs to move from an idea to a business. We also want to connect early-stage companies with groups that can provide advice, support, connections and investment. FCC’s total venture capital program as of March 31, 2023, includes investment in 16 funds with a total commitment of almost $540 million. Each fund FCC invests in has a slightly unique focus and expertise, creating a complementary and increasingly diverse range of investments that are helping Canadian agriculture companies and entrepreneurs innovate and grow.
Operational carbon footprint
FCC has been measuring its operational carbon footprint for several years. Our current 2025 target, set in 2016-17, is to reduce FCC greenhouse gas emissions by 40% (established from a 2011-12 baseline). By reducing emissions by 307 tonnes of CO2e every year from 2017 to 2025, we’re on track to meet this target.
In 2022-23, FCC set an ambition to be net-zero aligned in our internal operations. As part of the development of our ESG program, we will explore how to meet our net-zero aligned ambition by setting a science-based target. This aligns to the latest climate science best practices required to meet global goals. We’ll achieve this target through a combination of emission reductions alongside offsetting FCC’s residual operational emissions through the purchase of credible offsets.
FCC remains committed to furthering our understanding of climate opportunities and risks for the agriculture and food industry and understanding emissions related to our portfolio. In 2021-22, we completed an assessment using aggregated data by sector and geography for an initial benchmark of our financed emissions. In 2022-23, we calculated our Scope 3 Category 15 emissions related to our downstream activities using emission factors aligned with the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and provided by Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF). Learn more about financed emissions in our 2022-23 climate-related disclosures, which can be found in our annual report.