CLIMAMEAT Working Group: Development of sustainability protocols and indicators for the “CLIMAMEAT” brand

The first outcome of the project aims to establish a CLIMAMEAT brand management protocol for farms. To this end, indicators will be defined to measure the sustainability of farms and their alignment with climate-smart agriculture. The most relevant indicators will be selected through multi-stakeholder participation in a focus group of 20 to 28 people, approximately 60% of whom will be livestock farmers and crop farmers. Once the most relevant production, environmental, and social indicators have been selected, a questionnaire will be developed to characterize the farms and the selected indicators, using questions designed to generate both quantitative and qualitative data. Finally, the collected data will be analyzed, and the different farm types (intensive, semi-intensive, extensive, and semi-extensive) will be characterized. This analysis will identify the main farm idiosyncrasies and the indicators that characterize them, thus leading to improved sustainability for farms associated with the CLIMAMEAT brand.

The second outcome of the project aims to establish a value chain management protocol for the CLIMAMEAT brand. To this end, the value chains associated with the main beef products and their marketing channels from the farm will be characterized. A series of indicators will be developed based on the GRI standard indicators, and the most relevant ones will be selected through the participation of new focus groups comprised of meat companies, intermediaries, meat processors, marketers, distributors, consumers, and government personnel. The selected indicators will serve as the basis for developing a questionnaire that will generate quantitative and qualitative variables for characterizing the value chains of the three main meat products. Finally, a data analysis will be performed, and the results will be grouped according to value chain typologies (short, national, and international), allowing for the identification of key characteristics and the most differentiating indicators.

The third outcome of the project aims to develop indicators of productive, environmental, and social sustainability for the agri-food chain. To this end, economic sustainability indicators for the beef cattle agri-food system will be developed through a cost-benefit analysis per product and per hectare, unifying the analysis of the farm and the value chain. In addition, environmental and social indicators will be developed through a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), following the recommendation for the use of environmental footprint methods, focusing on the carbon footprint and biodiversity, which will be analyzed per hectare and per kilogram of product as functional units. These results will serve to compare the different types of management, processing, and marketing of meat products. Finally, to assess the social sustainability of the farm and value chain (agri-food system), interviews will be conducted to determine the capacity for job creation, integration of women and young people, and revitalization of rural areas.

Taking into account the productive, environmental, and social outcomes of different farm types (intensive, semi-intensive, semi-intensive, and extensive) and value chains (short, national, and international), the fourth outcome of the project aims to develop an integrated index of indicator outcomes adapted to each region. This index will include the indicators that best define the sustainability of beef cattle food systems and will be easy to interpret for farmers, value chain stakeholders, and policymakers.

In accordance with the European Climate Law, the European Union has committed to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. This means that greenhouse gas emissions must be offset by carbon sequestered at the farm and value chain levels. Therefore, the fifth outcome of the project aims to develop a protocol that will allow, on the one hand, the calculation of the carbon footprint and, on the other hand, provide mechanisms for achieving climate neutrality, either by reducing emissions or by increasing carbon sequestration, taking into account the different farm types (intensive, semi-intensive, semi-intensive, and extensive) and value chains (local, national, and international). This protocol will therefore consider all parameters measured in soil and woody vegetation as mechanisms for offsetting emissions.

The sixth outcome of the project aims to develop an application that analyzes key indicators related to sustainability and climate neutrality, considering the farm, the value chain, and the agri-food system as a whole. A focus group will also be conducted to validate the results of the integrated index and the prototype application used to calculate them. This focus group will also determine the compliance conditions linked to the criteria, requirements, and range of the indicators associated with the CLIMAMEAT brand, as well as their approval thresholds. Finally, the final prototype for estimating the index will be developed and presented, assessing compliance with the neutrality protocol and the conditions to be met by the CLIMAMEAT brand, along with mechanisms for improving the integrated index and the neutrality of the beef food system.

Taking into account the integrated indicators associated with certain practices in the beef cattle food system, a study will be carried out on the implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) regarding the development of eco-schemes and the CAP 2023-2027 rural development programs, with the aim of establishing policies that favor those practices that provide better scores on the integrated sustainability indicator and the neutrality protocol and, therefore, promote the CLIMAMEAT brand in the two autonomous communities under study.

The first outcome of the results transfer and dissemination plan involves the maximum and most effective dissemination and communication of project information to keep the target audience and society at large informed, thereby generating interest in these initiatives and their potential application in other autonomous communities. The primary target audience would be companies, business associations, and professionals linked to the livestock sector, as well as public administrations related to livestock, the environment, and rural development. However, the dissemination would be aimed at the general public and consumers interested in the topic. The goal is to achieve both national and international reach through websites, press coverage, informative articles, social media, blogs, and email, among other channels.

The second outcome of the results transfer and dissemination plan aims to maximize the implementation and transfer of the developed solutions within the sector(s) and achieve the greatest possible dissemination and impact of the project's results on end users. This will enable more and more farms to comply with the sustainability and climate neutrality criteria associated with the CLIMAMEAT brand, both in the autonomous communities studied and throughout the rest of the country. The primary target audience would be companies, business associations, and professionals linked to the livestock sector, as well as public administrations related to livestock, the environment, and rural development. However, the dissemination would be aimed at the general public and consumers interested in the topic. The goal is to achieve both national and international reach through websites, press releases, informative articles, social media, blogs, and email, among other channels.