Nutrien Doubles Carbon Program Pilot Acres, Gives 3 Environmental Priorities
With a virtual stakeholder update attended by more than 200 people, Nutrien shared its vision for environmental, social and governance (ESG). This included the company outlining three priority areas:
- Feeding the planet sustainably
- Environment and Climate Action
- Inclusive agriculture
Mayo Schmidt, who took on the roles of President and Chief Executive Officer in April says, “Our plans are certainty ambitious and plan to execute is solid. ESG is engrained in our governance and capital framework. We are uniquely positioned to lead and drive this change.”
The company is investing in how it can help grow the world from the ground up---spanning its mining operations to the in-the-field advisory and retail services to farmers.
“There’s a nexus between food and climate,” says Candace Laing, vice president of sustainability and stakeholder relations. “We know we cannot solve climate change, if it threatens food security.”
The company is aiming to use its carbon program to bring in multiple stakeholders in the value chain. Its 2021 pilot acres are located in the U.S. and Canada, and while the company had an initial goal of 100,000 acres, it has announced twice the enrollment–200,000 acres.
“Initially an important step towards scaling sustainable and productive agriculture is our focus on launching and scaling our carbon program, accelerating climate-smart agriculture by rewarding growers for their ecosystem services provides the backbone, on which we can scale additional practice changes,” Laing says.
Nutrien Ag Solutions advisers will be key in the sign up, tracking and execution of the carbon program.
“The carbon program is focused on generating and monetizing high quality carbon assets and credits, a process that starts with our trusted advisory relationship with growers,” says Mark Thompson, Executive Vice President, Chief Corporate Development & Strategy at Nutrien.
Company leaders say its carbon initiative is a portfolio approach that is also weaving together a series of acquisitions and investments from the company’s recent history. This includes Agrible, AgBridge, Waypoint Analytical and its own Digital Portal.
“We've invested over $800 million over the last decade in building out and investing in technologies and companies that are building out products that can help deliver the desired outcomes that we're looking for,” says Brent Smith, vice president of marketing and innovation at Nutrien.
Smith adds the company’s strategy is to have proactive conversations with growers to deliver on the desired outcome. It’s forecasted this strategy will increase grower acquisition and share of wallet with Nutrien’s branded products or third party products the retail division sells to deliver on those outcomes in a unique and valuable way.
With the carbon program as a springboard, the company is targeting to increase adoption of sustainable agriculture practices on 75 million acres by 2030.
“This is not about a prescriptive set of practices, but rather a focus on supporting growers in generating and tracking improved outcomes for soil and water, as well as biodiversity, all while improving yields livelihoods and resiliency.”
Additionally the company will reduce its own operations emissions.
Thompson says over the next 10 years, the company will deploy $500 million to $700 million to achieve an ambitious 30% reduction in emissions intensity.
