Lion declares its Aussie breweries are carbon neutral

From XXXX GOLD, to Tooheys New and Little Creatures, Lion has announced it has become a large-scale, carbon-neutral brewer across its Australian beer business. It has achieved this by complementing its carbon reduction program with the acquisition of certified carbon credits to offset its remaining carbon footprint.

By establishing a ‘whole brewery’ carbon reduction approach across its Australian breweries, the company is on track to meet its target to reduce its carbon footprint by 30% by 2025 from its 2015 baseline. Lion has also now committed to use 100% renewable electricity to brew its beers in the same timeframe.

To date, the company has implemented energy efficiency initiatives, biogas utilisation, rooftop solar, renewable energy power purchase agreements (PPAs), and is providing brewer’s grain to reduce livestock emissions. In doing so, Lion has already achieved a 28% (approximately 30,000 tonnes) reduction in its absolute carbon footprint of approximately 106,000 tonnes of CO₂ in 2015.

The company is now using offsets as a last lever while it looks to reduce its overall carbon emissions across its supply chain over the long run.

“By resetting our emissions to net zero, we’re sending a message to our people and our supply chain that we are deepening our collective responsibility to measure, manage and reduce our emissions, and we remain fully committed to doing so, despite the challenges we are facing in our business and across the industry as a result of COVID-19,” said Lion CEO Stuart Irvine.

“Speed is of the essence in stabilising the climate. That is why we are effectively throwing a safety net over our remaining operational CO₂ footprint — giving consumers the confidence that our range of beers will be produced in carbon neutral breweries,” Irvine said.

Tasman Environmental Markets has provided a portfolio of verified projects for the offsets for Lion. The projects being used focus on delivering bush regeneration and protecting vital habitat and food sources for native wildlife.

Image credit: Lionco