FDF leading the way for a ‘nature positive’ food system in Britain

The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has set out its stall with regards to the environment and sustainability, launching a new Nature Handbook to help manufacturers and the wider supply chain with their mission to be ‘nature positive’ by 2030.

According to the organisation’s data, food systems account for around a quarter of global greenhouse emissions and more than 80% of global biodiversity loss. This puts food manufacturing, it says, at the forefront of addressing the triple challenge of nature restoration, climate change and food production.

Co-authored by Broadway Initiative, an alliance of organisations promoting sustainability action in the UK, the Nature Handbook aims to build on this momentum, outlining the opportunities manufacturers have to protect and restore our natural environment.

It outlines how food and drink manufacturers can drive investment in nature restoration and regenerative farming, which will help the sector address both the causes and consequences of climate change, understanding their impact, and taking steps towards a more sustainable future, as well as setting out a vision for collaboration across the food supply chain and with policy makers.

While there’s a clear need to support the mission to reach ‘nature positive’ the FDF continues, there’s a significant funding gap of at least £44 billion for nature restoration from now to the early part of the next decade. While there are many challenges and hurdles to overcome, businesses are already making progress momentum is growing, it adds.

Balwinder Dhoot, director of sustainability and growth at the FDF, said, “As the impacts of climate change continue to grow, so too does the threat to our natural environment and the resilience of our food system. From farm to fork, our industry is not only dependent on nature to make the food and drink the nation eats every day, but it is also a significant contributor to climate change and biodiversity loss. That’s why we’re helping food manufacturers lead the charge and work across the whole food system to protect and restore the environment.”

“The Nature Handbook guides businesses, wherever they are in their sustainability journeys, through the process of taking action, so that we can contribute to the UK’s Nature Positive ambition to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030,” he added.

Liam Stokes, nature and communications director at Broadway Initiative, said, “We are living through a time of unprecedented environmental crisis. Wildlife and the ecosystems they inhabit are dwindling at home and around the world. The crisis presents not only a moral imperative, but a challenge to the food and drinks sector which depends upon nature. Yet businesses are not only threatened by the perilous state of nature; they also hold the solution. This handbook presents food and drinks manufacturers with the tools they need to lead the way in nature-positive action and build the resilient, sustainable businesses of tomorrow.”

The handbook supports the ‘nature’ pillar of FDF’s Ambition 2030 programme – its flagship sustainability strategy for the food and drink manufacturing, setting out the sector’s role in tackling climate change. The strategy outlines how each business can make its contribution towards a more sustainable future, as well as setting out a vision for collaboration between manufacturers and across the food supply chain.

The Nature Handbook can be accessed here.