Demonstrating an Insetting Business Model in the Beef Value Chain

Project summary

Objective

Propose a practical, standards-aligned insetting model for agri-food value chains.

Timeline

2025-2027

Investment

The CRC will invest $300,000 over two years to deliver this research

Program lead

Marit Kragt

Overview

Demonstrating an Insetting Business Model in the Beef Value Chain will test an approach for beef value chain participants to collaborate on emission reductions and share the benefits of doing so. A value chain is the connected set of businesses that raise, process, transport and sell beef, from cattle producers to processors, logistics, retailers and food service, as well as finance and insurance.

The project focuses on insetting interventions, which are activities designed to reduce emissions or increase carbon storage within a company’s value chain (for example, on the farms that supply the beef). Insetting offers opportunities to build climate resilience and supply chain stability, while sharing the costs and benefits among the participating companies.

To make this practical and auditable, the project will propose guidance on how companies might define the boundaries and scope of their insetting interventions, and how the generated emission reduction benefits can be co-claimed against corporate reporting and accounting frameworks.

Program
This project is being completed as part of Program 4: Delivering Value from Net Zero

Details

Importance

Producers often carry the cost of on-farm mitigation, while downstream businesses record the benefit as Scope 3 emissions reductions. Scope 3 emissions are the indirect emissions (other than those from purchased electricity) that occur in a company’s value chain but outside its own operations, for example, emissions from farms that supply a meat processor.

A clear, standards-aligned insetting model will enable fair cost- and benefit-sharing, support credible claims, and accelerate adoption of practical emissions-reducing practices.

Impact

The project will provide thought leadership on how insetting business models could be applied in Australian agriculture. The team aims to bring together stakeholders from across agri-food value chains and government agencies to produce an industry-supported white paper.

Aim

Propose a practical, standards-aligned insetting model for agri-food value chains. This means setting out how companies can work together to cut emissions within their own supply chain, not by buying offsets elsewhere, but by investing in real changes on the farms that supply them. To make this credible and easy to apply, the project will:

Bring together stakeholders across commodities and value chains, to agree on key definitions and approaches to measuring, attributing, monitoring, reporting and verification.
Establish clear rules for co-funding and co-claiming reductions so multiple businesses can share the benefit without double counting.
Test the model in a real beef value chain and align it with VEERG national guidelines and international standards such as the GHG Protocol and Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

Project team

The project team brings together experts from The University of Western Australia, Australian Agricultural Co (AACo), The University of Queensland, University of Melbourne, and Athian Inc. The team will collaborate with a range of industry organisations to generate impact.

Pathways to Adoption

The proposed insetting model will be codesigned with industry and experts, and piloted end-to-end. It will cover governance, evidence requirements, reporting and payment flows, within defined boundaries. A Project Steering Committee will keep decisions commercially relevant, and the outputs will be packaged for use across agri-food supply chains.

Research Timeline

This project will run for two years

PhDs

No PhD positions are included in this project.