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EIT Food and Foundation Earth new Alliance

In a major step towards transforming the environmental credentials of the food sector, the non-profit organisation Foundation Earth has been integrated into EIT Food, the world’s largest food innovation community. EIT Food is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.

The integration of Foundation Earth into EIT Food will provide the expertise needed for important advocacy work to develop internationally-recognised standards surrounding the use of data to assess the environmental impact of food.

The International Alliance for Food Impact Data will have the mandate of developing internationally adopted and accepted standards for the environmental scoring for food. The Alliance will initially consider the EU policy landscape, in the recognition that any future standards mandated by the EU will likely be of the highest level, ensuring that companies and supply chains can apply one standard for compliance across multiple geographies.

Foundation Earth launched in 2021 to develop a system for the environmental scoring labelling of food and drink products - and has won support for its work from a coalition of leading producers, scientists, campaigners, charities, technology partners and politicians who share the Foundation’s vision for a more environmentally-friendly food system.

Environmental impact data is key to transforming food systems. It can be used to enable informed decision-making across the value chain, for environmental and sustainability reporting, and in the development of Front of Pack labelling for consumers. A growing number of different methodologies and labels are in use globally, but they all adhere to different standards, meaning they aren’t comparable and it is difficult for policy-makers, companies and consumers to assess the actual environmental impact of different food products. There has also been a lack of coordination across the EU and no management by an EU-level organisation, a requisite recently set out by the EU Green Claims Directive.

In order for the food industry to meet its net-zero commitments, the complex challenge of environmental data, scoring and governance must be addressed.

The integration of Foundation Earth into EIT Food is significant step in the development of the Alliance which will seek to work with industry, policymakers and consultancies to ensure the delivery of large-scale impact in the sector.

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