Being able to report your product emissions intensity is becoming increasingly important in markets with growing sustainability expectations. Benefits of monitoring and reporting a GHG baseline include:

• Providing access to premium markets: some markets are preferencing low emissions products to meet consumer expectations. As GHG reporting becomes more common, it is expected to become increasingly important to demonstrate product emissions intensity to secure premium prices. The EU biodiesel market provides an example where a GHG footprint is an entry specification.
• Increasing production efficiency: A baseline helps to identify where emissions originate from within enterprise operations. Baselines can help to identify improvement strategies that align with enterprise goals and operating efficiencies.
• Improving supply chain partner confidence: confidently reporting product emissions intensity with stakeholders and supply chain partners can strengthen relationships by demonstrating commitment and compliance as markets increasingly demand environmental accountability.  
• Understanding when new technologies can help: Monitoring GHG baselines and benchmarking performance now can provide readily available evidence to leverage emissions reduction programs and opportunities going forward as technologies advance.
• Meeting market requirements: The CEFC works with co-financiers to deliver discount finance to the agricultural sector to support development of GHG Baselines and adoption of emission reduction activities. GHG Baseline reporting is increasingly becoming required for market access. 

Establishing a GHG baseline 

Emissions baselines are calculated based on standardised accounting approaches that capture an inventory of inputs, operations, and outputs.

There are a growing number of tools available to support monitoring and baselining of enterprise emissions performance. Selecting a tool is at the discretion of the farmer but it is important to consider:

• The input data requirements, and therefore the output emissions accounts, vary between calculators;
• All calculators have advantages and disadvantages in how they are populated and used to estimate emissions baselines;
• Selecting and using a recognised tool consistently over time allows monitoring and reporting of directional change in enterprise emissions;
• Understanding emissions intensity alongside the enterprise total is useful in determining strategies to offset or reduce emissions;
• GHG tools are evolving rapidly with increasingly integration with farm management software and other agronomic services.

Common Inventory Data