A clear position on climate issues

As a food producer and agricultural cooperative, Lantmännen has a responsibility to do what we can for more climate friendly food. Lantmännen has worked to reduce carbon emissions from own production since 2009, and the reduction is over 70 percent.

Lantmännen's climate strategy

Lantmännen’s climate strategy is based on reducing emissions at the rate required by the Paris Agreement. This means halving emissions every decade to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Lantmännen’s climate target is divided into primary production, its own production and purchased transport. The targets focus on fossil-free production and transport, continuing energy efficiency and investments and measures to reduce the carbon footprint throughout the value chain.

Cultivation stage is the most important part 

In the food value chain, in principle all the primary value for humans is created in the cultivation stage.  Carbon hydrates, proteins and other nutrients that humans need are created here. Consequently, the  main part of resources are used in the cultivation, and environmental impact in the chain from field to fork occur. To grow and harvest, the soil needs tillage, the plant needs sowing, protection, nutrients and the crop finally is to be threshed and dried, and all these activities have climate and environmental impact. In the cultivation step, carbon is sequestrated in the plant and some of the carbon stay in the land, primarily in the plant's roots and the land can become a carbon sink and contribute to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. 

From a life cycle perspective, the carbon footprint of many of our products is greatest in the cultivation stage. The main contributors are biological conversion of nitrogen in the soil, diesel consumption and drying of grain. Production of plant nutrients (commercial fertilisers) also accounts for a significant proportion. To give a complete picture of climate impact from grain production, the carbon sequestration must be included. Today, methodology is not available to quantify the carbon sequestration in a life cycle analysis. Reference: Lantmännen internal data 2018. 

Climate target for primary production

In 2019 , Lantmännen decided on a new climate target for the primary production. The target is to create prerequisites for a sustainable primary production with a halved climate impact every ten years to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.

Primary production includes the first part of the value chain – activities on the farm – and this is where the main value is created. By reducing the impact from farming and the impact from our own production and transports, we can create a sustainable food value chain, from field to fork.

Based on our climate target, we have produced the report Future farming, what describes the potentials for a more sustainable Swedish farming. Read more. 

Cultivation concept for lower carbon footprint

We are working with farmers to develop cultivation in a more sustainable direction. This involves developing and offering environmentally friendly fuels and services for optimised cultivation, and carrying out research in areas such as plant breeding and biological plant protection. We are also developing the cultivation program Climate & Nature for grain with a lower carbon footprint. An example of work in the cultivation stage is Kungsörnen's flour with up to 30 percent lower climate impact. For harvest 2023, we add fossil-free mineral fertilizer as a criterion. In this way, we can create a fossil-free value chain from field to fork and offer customers and consumers even more sustainable products.

Read more about our work to establish a fossil-free value chain with reduced climate impact in cultivation.

Climate target for own production and transports

In 2021 Lantmännen decided on a new climate target for its own production. The target is to reduce the climate impact by 50 percent by 2030, a reduction rate in line with the Paris Agreement target level. The target is to be achieved by continuing to phase out fossil fuels, switching to green electricity and increasing energy efficiency.   The outcome for 2023 is a reduction of 45 percent compared with the base year 2019. Climate emissions from own production (scopes 1, 2 and 3.3) in absolute figures amounted to approximately 107 (122) thousand tonnes CO2 e in 2023, a reduction of 13 percent compared with 2022. The reduction is partly due to lower energy use during the year. Other explanations for the decline are the Lantmännen Biorefineries facility in Norrköping having switched to 100 percent renewable purchasing of district heating and Swecon Germany having switched to origin-labeled electricity. The reduction obligation and inflation have also contributed to the decline.  

Reduce emissions from transports

Lantmännen is present all the way from field to fork. Along the way, we have transports needing fuel and creating emissions. The emissions must be reduced. More transportation needs to be moved to rail and sea, and the proportion of renewable fuels must increase. In cooperation with our transport suppliers, we are working to improve planning, increase the fill rate and promote eco-friendly vehicles, fuels and driving.

Lantmännen has a target to reduce emissions from purchased transports with 50 percent to 2030 in relation to net sales (base year 2019). A sub-target is fossil-free transport and service vans in Sweden by 2030, to achieve fossil freedom in all markets by 2050. The strategy is based on more sustainable fuel choices and more efficient transport flows. In Sweden, we are seeing a transition to biofuels, with domestic biofuels playing a crucial role.

Read more about our cooperations within transports.

Lantmännen's total emissions of greenhouse gases per scope, according to World Business Council för Sustainable Development Green House Gas Protocol, see table above. Learn more in our Annual Report with Sustainability Report.

Own production target reached in 2020

Lantmännen's goal to reduce production emissions by 40 percent between 2009 och 2020 was achieved in 2015. We set a new target, to reach another 40 percent reduction until 2020. This target was reached in 2020. Between 2009 and 2020, emissions relative to net sales declined by 71 percent. In absolute figures, emissions have fallen by 62 percent. 

Energy efficiency and fossil free production

An important part of the progress has been the transition from fossil fuel oil to biofuels at our facilities. In several cases, residues from our own production have been used to replace fossil fuels. We are also working systematically on improving energy efficiency at the facilities.