Carbon Solutions

Accelerating Decarbonization

As an outcome of the 2021 climate conference in Glasgow, 136 countries have committed to net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier, while over 30% of the world’s 2,000 largest publicly-traded corporates, including many multinationals in the food and agriculture sector, have also made net zero commitments.

These developments, along with rising prices of carbon credits, mean that the global voluntary carbon market is forecast to be worth US$50 billion by 2030 and US$100 billion by 2050.

In this context, and as part of our commitment to minimize the environmental impact of our business activities, LDC created a dedicated, global Carbon Solutions Platform in September 2021, with teams in Switzerland, China and the US working to accelerate our global decarbonization trajectory.

The Platform is actively collaborating with LDC teams around the world to drive decarbonization in both our own operations and beyond, in our value chains. To fulfill this mission, the Platform works through actions such as use of renewable energy, low carbon fuels, energy efficiency enhancements and investments in nature-based solutions across our supply chains, supported by participation in both compliance and voluntary carbon credits markets.

The Carbon Solutions team works closely with LDC’s Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) team and all its platforms to calculate our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions footprint and set science-based emissions reduction targets for the Group.

To ensure that carbon best practice becomes an integral part of doing business, as well as a value driver and competitive advantage for LDC, the Platform aims to:

Lead the Group’s corporate greenhouse gas inventory and target-setting, and support the business in achieving these targets;

Build a carbon reduction project portfolio within and beyond LDC’s operations, as a source of high-quality carbon credits and removals to serve both our own and our customers’ needs; and
Support our business lines to decarbonize value chains and offer low carbon intensity products and services for our clients.

“Having established a team that collectively has over 80 years of experience, we are well-positioned to drive forward LDC’s decarbonization journey through innovative solutions and projects across supply chains, individually and in collaboration with industry peers, customers, suppliers, climate experts and other like-minded partners working to shape a sustainable and net-zero economy.”

Nyame de Groot

Head of Carbon Solutions

Project Portfolio Highlights

The Platform is building a portfolio of carbon reduction and removal projects across a wide spectrum of techniques and technologies:

Regenerative agriculture: planning collaboration with farmers to incentivize farming practices that can lead to enhanced soil organic carbon and/or reduction of nitrous oxide emissions.

Reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD): forest conservation and protection projects designed to reduce emissions resulting from deforestation or degradation. For example, we contributed to a project in partnership with Ecosphere+ in Sumatra, Indonesia, to restore over 22,000 hectares of peatland rainforest in Merang biodiversity zone, sequestering 2.6 million tons of CO₂ emissions to date.
Reforestation and afforestation: tree-planting and cultivation activities that generate carbon removals, including agroforestry.
Community projects: initiatives to reduce emissions while benefitting local communities in developing countries, such as the provision of safe water devices that reduce use of non-renewable biomass, LED lighting to replace kerosene devices, and improved cooking stoves. For instance, in partnership with BioLite, we contributed to a project that distributes innovative stoves to Kenyan households that cut pollutant emissions (by 90%), reduce wood fuel use (by 50%) and provide homes with on-demand electricity.
Technology-driven removals: carbon removals generated by technology enhancements at our industrial assets, such as the planned carbon capture project from LDC’s ethanol plants in Iowa and Nebraska, US, in partnership with Summit Carbon Solutions.
Methane avoidance and use: avoidance of emissions from enteric fermentation or organic waste, and methane recovery and use for electricity or heat.

Renewable energy projects: emissions reductions from replacement of fossil-based electricity or heat sources by renewable sources such as wind and solar photovoltaic plants in developing countries.