By Anne Vinther Morant, 17 Jan 2025

Summary of the 3rd ICES/NMTT Nordic Climate Change Forum

On 16 January 2025, I participated at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) / Nordic Marine Think Tank (NMTT) 3rd workshop for Nordic Climate Change Forum for Fisheries and Aquaculture in Helsingborg, Sweden.

 

The workshop focused on the impact of fishery on climate change and vice versa; on measuring climate impact, especially using life cycle assessments, on communication to consumers and consumers’ behavior in terms of climate impact and labelling.

Greenhouse gas emissions from primary fisheries

The most relevant topics for Kangamiut are those relating to our scope 3 carbon emissions; that is, those emissions that are found in our upstream and downstream value chain and for us probably constitute >99% of our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

 

Life cycle assessments, LCAs, (if done properly) measure the carbon emissions through the entire life cycle of a product, but a major gap in seafood LCAs is the lack of inclusion of emissions from the release of organic carbon created from the disturbance of the seabed from trawling as well as inclusion of data on carbon sequestration from the build up of carbon in the fish themselves. Especially the emissions from the seabed are a matter of much uncertainty and debate. First of all, it is very difficult to measure, and second, the available studies show divergent results although the majority show a significant contribution of trawling to GHG emissions.

LCAs as a measurement tool was widely discussed and linked to the upcoming CSRD reporting where LCAs were proposed as a central tool given the fact that they measure not only carbon emissions but also land use change and many other environmental impacts. However, the biodiversity dimension is not (yet) included in LCAs.

 

The importance of truthful and precise communication of environmental, social and ethical claims were discussed; for Kangamiut this is mostly relevant in the context of our websites, LinkedIn communications and Seafood Expo booths.

 

My complete notes from the workshop including relevant references are available via the link below. Enjoy!

 

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