A key component of the new LSR guidance is the ability to report on FLAG targets separately from other corporate emissions. Latis breaks out emissions from land management, land use change, and removals in accordance with the guidelines.
In Latis, you can see a breakdown of your GHG emissions by:
Carbon Removals
FLAG Category | Land Management | Land Use Change | Carbon Removals |
HowGood Metric | Carbon Footprint (Cradle-to-farm gate) | Land Use Change | Carbon Removals |
Definition | Measures on-farm emissions associated with the agricultural production of an ingredient. | Measures emissions associated with the conversion of land for agricultural purposes based on regional land conversion (sLUC) | Measures emissions removed from the atmosphere and stored through climate-positive land management practices. |
FLAG-compliant Data Requirements | -- | -- | Primary data required |
Land Management
Land Management is a measure of the on-farm emissions (cradle-to-farm gate) associated with the production of a given ingredient. The impact of GHGs is calculated as kilograms of CO2 equivalent per kilogram of the primary commodity ingredient before any factory or processing emissions. On farm emissions include all on-farm processes including primary inputs like fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, and farm machinery fuel needs. Measurements are directly sourced from location and crop-specific Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) from all over the world.
Land Use Change
Land Use Change measures the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) associated with the conversion of natural lands to land for agricultural purposes. HowGood provides a statistical land use change (sLUC) metric designed in accordance with the GHG Protocol’s Draft Land Sector and Removals Guidance, which recommends companies take a sLUC approach to measuring land use change emissions where direct land use change emission factors are not available. sLUC measures the emissions due to land use change within a region or jurisdiction.
Carbon Removals
The impact of Carbon Removals is calculated as kilograms of CO2 equivalent per kilogram of the primary commodity ingredient. Carbon removals occur when CO2 is transferred from the atmosphere to storage within a non-atmospheric carbon pool. Carbon Removals can also be referred to as carbon sequestration. Examples include improving forest management practices and enhancing soil carbon sequestration on working lands.
In order to account for carbon removals, the GHG Protocol's Land Sector and Removals Guidance requires primary data, ongoing monitoring (and reporting of removals as emissions if monitors are lost), traceability, and quantitative uncertainty estimates.
In accordance with this guidance, HowGood requires the following primary data inputs at the ingredient-level in order to measure Carbon Removals:
Biomass
Dead organic matter (DOM)
Soil Carbon Pools
HowGood then uses the submitted primary data in the Stock Change method as defined in the GHG protocol.