Risks and challenges

The agriculture segment will be hard-hit by the effects of climate change, which will threaten the food security of millions of people globally. The increased frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events will pose a serious risk to the agriculture sector, and carbon-emissions legislation will bring with it escalating costs and intensified competition. Any business active in agriculture that has high emissions will require an astute carbon-emissions reduction plan in order to retain control of their business and remain competitive. Large supermarket chains, such as Wal-Mart, Sainsbury’s, Woolworths and Tesco’s, are demanding that suppliers account for their carbon emissions.

Opportunities:

Players in agriculture have to re-examine their resource usage. Rather than being viewed as expensive hindrances, waste steams, such as water and manure for example, need to be regarded as possible energy opportunities that could provide energy security and extra revenue through carbon credits. Energy efficiency and renewable energy are becoming seen as tools that drive profitability and protect margins. Shrewd companies are creating new markets with carbon-neutral products which feed consumer demand for products that allow them to support the fight against climate change. Leading companies recognise an emissions-reduction policy as a differentiator that sets them apart from their competitors.

What can GCX do for you?

• Efficiency:

Through determining your carbon footprint and a business-case energy efficiency audit, GXC will assess your company’s carbon emissions and help you to set targets and budgets that suit your business. From here, GCX will help you to implement reductions and achieve your cost-cutting goals, which include education campaigns in your organisation to engrain climate-change awareness in your company’s culture and to ensure that employees support internal initiatives. GCX will also undertake to monitor your emissions on a continuous basis. The journey towards becoming a low-carbon business also offers significant PR and marketing opportunities that can be harnessed to differentiate your company as a climate-change leader.

• Increased competitiveness:

GCX will introduce you to new markets in which you can differentiate your brand in these highly competitive arenas through its association with low carbon-emissions products. Research shows that consumers around the world are opting for climate friendly purchases and have more trust in a company if it has a clearly defined emissions-reduction strategy. Supermarkets, for example, are aware of this consumer trend and treat low-carbon businesses preferentially.

• Adaptation:

Adaptation involves the adjustment of systems in order to respond to actual or expected weather events or their physical manifestation. These adjustments mitigate the harm or exploit the beneficial opportunities that result from these events. GCX will assess the effect that climate change will have on your supply chain and business as whole. Our specialists will highlight the risks inherent in your business model and identify solutions to this risk and help you to implement them.

• Legislation and reputation:

GCX will determine the effect that carbon laws will have on your business and identify the best ways to ensure your continued profitability, which also include establishing the reputation risks posed by being affiliated with a high carbon-emissions business.

• Converting waste into energy:

Companies need to realise that their waste offers energy-efficiency and revenue opportunities through carbon credits. GCX will work with you to identify waste streams that offer these opportunities, through projects such as fuel switches (coal or gas to biomass), waste-to-energy (manure to energy), waste heat recovery processes and carbon sequestration (soil regeneration).

• Lifecycle assessment (LCA):

GCX’s LCA services endeavour to help companies understand the carbon emissions in their products. This information is vital if you are planning to introduce a green alternative to your current product range. Research shows that consumers trust a company and are more willing to buy its products if it has a clearly defined climate-change strategy.