The Scottish Wholesale Association (SWA) has set out ambitious plans to reach net zero by 2040, in time for Scotland’s net-zero target of 2045, in a new report.
SWA’s Decarbonising the Scottish Wholesale Sector report is launched alongside the UK Wholesale Sector Net Zero Roadmap, developed in collaboration with Federation of Wholesale Distributors (FWD).
The project highlights how the Scottish wholesale sector is stepping up to the challenges presented by climate change and joining the UK-wide sector ambition of reaching net zero by 2040.
The UK Wholesale Sector Net Zero Roadmap consists of three key elements: a calculation of carbon emissions from the wholesale sector; a bespoke carbon calculator tool that will be free for all SWA and FWD members to use in order understand their own emissions; and a comprehensive step-by-step climate action guide to help wholesalers reduce carbon and ultimately reach net-zero targets.
The report reveals that the UK wholesale value chain was responsible for producing 18 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents in 2021.
However, across the UK, wholesalers are only directly responsible for approximately 4% of these in the operation of their businesses (referred to as Scope 1 & 2 emissions), with the majority in the chain upstream from manufacturers and suppliers (referred to as Scope 3 emissions). This highlights the critical need to work together across the food and drink supply chain to reduce climate change emissions.
The ‘Decarbonising the Scottish Wholesale Sector’ reveals the majority of Scope 1 emissions for Scottish wholesalers are from vehicle fleets, which aligns with the wider UK emissions analysis. However, Scottish vehicle emissions are a slightly higher proportion of Scope 1 emissions. It further shows that there are differences in emissions for different sizes of wholesalers, with vehicle emissions accounting for a higher proportion of emissions from SMEs.
The SWA research for north of the Border identifies key sources of operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the sector as road transport, particularly HGVs, at 67.3% followed by electricity at 17.7%, refrigerants at 6.5% then use of fuel to heat buildings at 8.6%.
While outlining the actions wholesalers need to take in order to decarbonise their operations and value chains, SWA asks the Scottish government for capital cost support for a swift vehicle fleet transition, investment in zero-emission transport infrastructure, and support for a rapid transition to renewable electricity.
Colin Smith, SWA Chief Executive, said: “This report is an important step on our sustainability journey, during which the SWA will work hard to drive a just transition to a net-zero economy that can benefit all of Scotland’s wholesale sector.
“While the report shows that wholesalers overwhelmingly are willing to take action to achieve a just transition to net zero, the upfront capital investment required is the key barrier which is why that is one of our key policy asks of government.”
FWD Chief Executive James Bielby added: “It is clear wholesalers are acting across all areas of their business, but more help and encouragement is needed to enable the sector to fully measure progress towards net zero. This is no longer an added extra, it’s a business essential for a wholesale channel which is sustainable – in both senses of the word.”
