SBTs for Nature: Musholm A/S

Business depends on nature

With an estimated 55% of global GDP moderately or highly dependent on nature, businesses are now starting to appreciate the dependencies and impacts that their operations have on ecosystems. These represent operational, reputational and financial risks to their activities. Together with regulatory shifts and stakeholder demands, they are driving the imperative for urgent action that contributes proportionally and holistically to a Nature Positive future.

Furthermore, nature is estimated to absorb approximately half of our annual carbon emissions, inextricably linking nature loss to climate change. Without addressing the collapse of our ecosystems globally, we will not be able to limit global warming to 1.5C. All entities, commercial or non-commercial, must identify and build science-based nature-positive strategies alongside decarbonisation measures into their activities.

Client

Musholm A/S

Project Status

Ongoing

SBTs for Nature: “There is no net zero without meaningful action on nature”

In May 2023, the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) unveiled the first science-based targets for nature (SBTs) to help businesses address both crises concurrently through the evaluation of their environmental impacts and the development of strategies and targets to mitigate them. The SBTs build on the momentum of the climate-focused Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) with the addition of four nature ‘Hubs’: Freshwater, Land, Biodiversity and Ocean. Companies that have already set targets for climate are well positioned to expand on these, incorporating climate and nature objectives.

To maximise efficiencies, the SBTs have been developed in alignment with other related disclosure frameworks, both mandatory and voluntary, for example the EU’s CSRD and TNFD. And they are developed in a way that builds upon the certifications an aquaculture company or fisheries might already have, such as the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Global Gap.

Science-based targets for nature take the guesswork out of what businesses need to do, by when, by whom, how much, and where.

M. Sanjayan CEO, Conservation International

M. Sanjayan CEO, Conservation International

Musholm A/S: committed to environmentally effective aquaculture

Musholm A/S, a Danish aquaculture company which farms trout, is committed to ensuring its operations are both socially responsible and environmentally efficient. Having already certified 75% of its production under the ASC standard, Musholm’s ambitions extend beyond simply reducing its impacts, to identifying restorative and regenerative actions.

It is the first aquaculture company to pilot the first seafood value chain science-based targets methodology for target-setting issued in 2023 by the SBTN's Ocean Hub, as part of the newly launched guidelines. (Future Ocean targets currently under development by SBTN will focus on other sectors including maritime transport, coastal and marine tourism, marine offshore renewables and coastal development.)

The commitment to participate in the SBTs for nature target-setting pilot has been driven by Musholm’s leadership. It requires strong internal alignment to put in place the necessary mechanisms for the data collection.

We are proud to have been chosen for the Ocean Hub pilot, as the only ones in our area. We have learned a lot about our own impact and provided important insights and knowhow about sea farming. For us, these insights are also our own call to action to develop targets of nature positive actions and we hope to lead a way for others to follow.

Thorbjørn Harkamp Vice Managing Director, Musholm

Thorbjørn Harkamp Vice Managing Director, Musholm

For example, procurement departments must coordinate closely to secure upstream data. It also requires expertise in specialist areas, which Musholm did not have in-house, including lifecycle assessment and foot printing, proficiency in spatial analysis, familiarity with tools such as ENCORE and WWF Biodiversity Risk Filter, and a deep understanding of environmental data.

Musholm turned to WSP, which has been supporting and collaborating with the firm for almost a decade, to partner it through the process, liaising with and providing feedback to SBTN throughout. With WSP’s support, Musholm was able to map its nature impacts, both direct through its own fish farming and indirect through its supply chain, in order to set goals for nature positive actions.

Trout production ASC-certified

75%

Global GDP dependent on nature

55%

Carbon emissions absorbed by nature

50%

SBTs five-step process

The target-setting process comprises five steps, each accompanied with relevant methods, tools and resources. The first three steps are:

Assess to provide a high-level understanding of environmental materiality of activities and an overview of the pressures and the state of nature associated with a company’s value chain
Interpret and Prioritize areas where action has the biggest overall impact, considering actions from operations and across value chains to the landscapes surrounding value chains
Measure, Set and Disclose targets in line with company-specific material impacts and validate them covering:
- Freshwater targets
- Land targets
- Biodiversity targets (currently still under development) are partially covered within the Freshwater, Land and Ocean targets
- Ocean targets, under three distinct realms, will be available in 2025. [NB Musholm’s involvement is part of the target-setting and validation pilot process with results due shortly.]
- Climate targets (via SBTi)

The final two steps (still under development) comprise:

Act upon targets.
Track progress by:
- Measuring progress towards targets
- Reporting targets and progress
- Verifying the accuracy of targets over time

Musholm’s targets

To date WSP has collaborated with Musholm on the first three steps of the SBTs for nature process.

Bringing together a team of biodiversity experts from the UK and Denmark, WSP reviewed the guidance with Musholm. Together we identified what data was required to enable the firm to assess its impacts and whether this was already being gathered through the ASC certification activities.

Referencing the ENCORE knowledge base, the WSP team then conducted a materiality assessment of Musholm’s operations to identify priority topics. In the absence of existing tools corresponding to Musholm’s specific context, WSP developed an approach which translated the SBTN requirements into Excel formulae to rank the different impacts.

Leveraging the data in this way meant it could be analysed more easily and the outputs more readily communicated to Musholm. The SBTs guidance was then used to develop an approach to prioritisation.

Initially, areas where it was judged Musholm could make the biggest impact focused on protecting structural habitats. Upon further examination, and with WSP’s data-based insights, Musholm felt sufficiently confident to expand its targets to include protecting endangered, threatened, and protected (ETP) marine wildlife species related to fishing as part of their supply chain.

Musholm is currently finalising the targets, and the resources to be able to track and report on them, ready for validation by SBTN.

Stakeholder engagement

As with other sustainability frameworks, stakeholder engagement is core to the SBTN process and central to setting and achieving targets with the broadest possible benefits is engaging the whole value chain.For Musholm, this includes feed companies, and fisheries since feed is the number one materiality in Musholm’s supply chain.

WSP has been liaising with the feed company, BioMar, and Danish Pelagic Producers Organization (DPPO), which represents the fisheries, around their own target-setting journeys. This has included hosting knowledge-sharing meetings aimed at identifying common target areas to pursue collaboratively. WSP also facilitated Musholm’s and the fisheries’ participation at Denmark’s Folkemødet national festival, which brings together policy makers, community representatives, organizations, business and citizens to debate issues concerning the country. The event provided a platform for Musholm and DPPO to increase public awareness of pelagic fishing and fish farming, and to communicate the challenges and opportunities around their work to reduce their nature footprints.

Participation in the SBTs for nature pilot

The SBTs for nature, in common with other sustainability frameworks, aim to steer businesses and other organisations towards the most ambitious outcomes possible. Key to success is finding the balance between “scientific rigour and feasibility”, particularly as many organisations are looking at their operations through a nature lens for the first time. As such, SBTN seeks to provide guidance that is comprehensive without being overly prescriptive.

Musholm’s participation in the pilot, as part of the multi-stakeholder review process, allows SBTN to see how the guidance is applied in practice, and the process times and resources needed to respond. This will enable it to make any optimisations or revisions before full roll-out. Together with Musholm, WSP liaised closely with representatives of Ocean Hub, soliciting additional clarification where needed, highlighting any challenges and providing feedback throughout the pilot.