P.PSH.1308 - ACC CN30 Co Innovation Program

Summary

The exclusive focus of the ACC CN30 Co Innovation program will be to explore, pilot and scale GHG management interventions through the value chain.

The program will also include the identification and development specific viable market opportunities that exhibit a willingness to pay for such sustainability credentials.

Specifically the three-year collaborative program’s four strategic focus areas include:
1. Emissions avoidance
2. Carbon storage
3. Integrated management systems – including identifying, validating and developing market segments which are willing to pay for carbon and sustainability claims
4. Organisational leadership building – with a particular emphasis on innovations that enable new value creation through GHG emissions management along the supply chain.

Objectives

1) Emission avoidance
2) Carbon storage
3) Integrated management systems
4) Leadership building.

Key findings

Natural Capital reporting is emerging as a goal for businesses (including beef industry
suppliers and supply chains) that depend on or impact the natural environment. This requirement has a higher likelihood of becoming compulsory for businesses that:
• have internal sustainability targets (such as pastoral sustainability)
• supply goods into markets that have high sustainability targets (e.g. EU or major American beef buyers)
• loan funds or undertake joint investment with organisations with high sustainability targets.

To better understand the goals, approach and outputs of natural capital reporting, this co innovation project supported ACC to engage IntegrityAg to undertake a pilot Natural Capital Assessment (the Assessment) for a single property within the Australian Country Choice (ACC) portfolio.

Benefits to industry

As a result of MLA’s support for this program, the broader industry benefits achieved:
• generic tools and approaches to building enterprise and supply chain innovation capability and achieving innovation outcomes
• better understanding of the critical issues impacting on the competitiveness of the industry that extended more broadly to other industry enterprises
• new technologies and new scientific knowledge (arising from projects within the Collaborative Co Innovation program) and shared learnings disseminated for the benefit of the broader industry.

MLA action

Continue funding Co-Innovation role with a broader focus on sustainability.

Future research

• ACC & MLA have agreed to invest in a three-year stage two Sustainability Program P.PSH.1552 commencing February 2025.
• ACC to continue to develop detailed short-, medium- and long-term energy reduction strategy.