The fashion industry is one of the most polluting in the world, being responsible for around 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. M. J. Bale took a significant stand to turn the tide by achieving net zero in 2021, and also recognise that their journey to lessen their impact on the planet is only just beginning, and must be an ongoing commitment into the future.

M. J. Bale, who operate 67 stores across Australia, first pursued emission reductions across the different sectors of their operations, and then offset their unavoidable remaining emissions by investing in biodiverse reforestation carbon offsets in Carbon Neutral’s Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor and offshore wind energy projects.

“We recognise that future generations of Australians will inherit the decisions we make today. And as we saw in the recent bushfires, if we lose our environment, we lose our communities and livelihoods. In my mind, investing in the environment is investing our collective future – we don’t consider it optional.”

Founder and CEO of M. J. Bale, Matt Jensen

M. J. Bale began its carbon neutral journey in 2019 with a scoping study by Life Cycle Logic who charted the route to neutrality by assessing what was needed, and how they were going to get there. The scoping study also measured the carbon footprint of one of M. J. Bale’s two-piece suits from raw materials through to being sold – which was found to be 102kg of CO2-e. By understanding the scope of their emissions for their products (88%) and as an organisation (12%), they could prioritise where to target reductions.

They were surprised to learn wool production was one of the biggest sources of emissions for their suits. A chance meeting between M. J. Bale CEO Matt Jensen and Sam Elsom from Sea Forest sparked an innovative collaboration to reducing emissions from its sheep used for wool. Sea Forest, based in Tasmania and who work with CSIRO, have developed a livestock food supplement from red asparagopsis seaweed. The seaweed eliminates 99% of the sheep’s methane production by acting on the gut, and can also enhance productivity by using methane for metabolism. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and warms the planet about 84 times more than CO₂, meaning nature-based solutions like seaweed cultivation can lead to significant climate action.

A trial of the seaweed supplement was rolled out in 2021 at M. J. Bale’s single-source wool farm at Kingston in Tasmania, in partnership with the University of Tasmania. Over 300 days, half of the merino sheep were fed with barley laced with the seaweed extract, with the other half eating just barley. The trial was a huge success, leading to the world’s first Carbon Neutral Wool. Kingston farmer Simon Cameron is himself dedicated to conservation and low-impact farming, with a proud history in agriculture that protects biodiversity. The trial is expanding to a flock of 500 sheep in 2022.

Despite having a widely connected supply chain, M. J. Bale is also working with their global garment makers to commit to reduce their own carbon intensity, switch to solar power, and from coal-fired boilers to gas to power their equipment. They’ve also struck up industry partnerships with Woolmark and the Better Cotton Initiative to select sustainable, regenerative, and organic natural fibre products.

M. J. Bale aren’t stopping there – they are also ensuring more of their garment trims, labels, and packaging are made from recycled materials and natural fibres in 2022 and continuing to improve their bio-degradable packaging solutions. They are also working to engineer schemes to encourage more efficient and sustainable staff transport and freight options. In 2022 M. J. Bale are also transitioning all of their stores to being powered by renewable energy (currently 50%). They’ve also partnered with the Moving The Needle garment recycling program to extend the life of their suits

The menswear brand plan to have net negative emissions by 2023 and growing further to negative 30% by 2025. We’re proud to be part of this Australian-first achievement, and hope the commitment shown by M. J. Bale paves the way for more fashion retailers to do the same.

The buzzwords, slogans and jargon attached to the climate and biodiversity crises are no exception – indeed they are notoriously slippery and prone to malleability. As scientific research on climate change is discussed, debated, and shared along new avenues, its language can easily be stripped of its original intent, and, often, its meaning. A prime example of this is a term we hear every day in relation to climate action: net zero.

What is net zero?

The focal point of climate policy in recent years, net zero has featured strongly in headlines in 2020 and 2021 as climate ambitions became formalised and its narrative was adopted by more countries and organisations than ever.

Essentially, net zero means that what goes out must come back in. In a net zero world, if a tonne of carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere from human-generated sources like fossil fuels and land-use change, a tonne of carbon dioxide must be deliberately removed from the atmosphere. The flow of carbon from human-generated sources, like fossil fuels and land use change, must balance on aggregate with carbon being drawn down into carbon sinks.

But what’s a carbon sink? These are natural carbon sponges that absorb more carbon than they release, typically carbon reservoirs like forests, soil and oceans. The carbon they store becomes part of the nutrient cycle within these ecosystems. They can still emit carbon, but they take up much more.

Current flows of carbon from human sources far exceed its removal into the planet’s carbon sinks.

Some confusion over the idea of net zero comes from the similar term absolute zero. In a net zero world, emissions are still being generated, but they’re balanced out by offsets or mechanisms that settle the carbon budget. Absolute zero refers to no emissions being generated at all. Currently, this is unrealistic – any activity that produces emissions would have to be scrapped, which simply isn’t feasible in this day and age. In some modern processes, emissions are unavoidable, so offsets will continue to have a key role to play as we transition to reducing emissions across different sectors.

Reaching net zero

To limit a rise in global average temperatures, a defined budget of CO₂ and other greenhouse gas emissions that can be allowed into the atmosphere must be set; meeting the Paris Agreement goal of only a 1.5°C rise by 2100 limits the world to an emissions budget of 400 – 800 GtCO₂. To avoid overspending this budget, greenhouse gas emissions must rapidly reach a maximum peak before 2030, and then drop to net zero by around 2050.

The lifetime and legacy of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases means the balance of removals and emissions for net zero must continue over many decades. Emitting now and removing later is not an acceptable solution; all the time greenhouse gases are in the atmosphere, they are contributing to rising global temperatures, pushing our climates to a tipping point that could cause irreversible damage.

A recent paper from the journal Nature outlined seven attributes essential to achieving credible net-zero:

• Front-loaded emission reductions
• Comprehensive emission reductions
• Cautious use of carbon dioxide removal
• Effective regulation of carbon offsets
• Equitable transition to net zero
• Socio-ecological sustainability
• New economic opportunities

For net zero to be realised on a global scale, there needs to be better governance, accountability and reporting mechanisms. After all, pledges can easily appear empty if they lack detailed plans and long-term social integrity. There are broad shifts needed across industries, technologies, and the way we live that frequently dip into the muddy waters of economics, politics, and social dynamics. We will be covering some of these strategies and transitions in upcoming featured pieces.

Net zero verifications and certifications

The concept of net zero, however, is susceptible to alternative interpretations and blurred definitions from different sources.

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for organisations defines its version of net zero only as emission reductions that align with a 1.5°C trajectory – even though net zero as a concept isn’t tied to a specific temperature target. As 1.5°C will likely slip from reach (based on the weakness of current global commitments), net zero will still be applied as a concept to a 2.0°C or 2.5°C target.

SBTi also sets out that net zero claims must cover all Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, and that eligible offsets must be carbon removals, as opposed to carbon avoidance (a definition of net zero based on The British Standards Institution’s PAS 2060 verification).

Australia, meanwhile, has its own verification for net zero – Climate Active’s Carbon Neutral Standard. This is achieved in three steps that link to each other, and can apply to organisations, products, services, events, buildings, or precincts:

1. Calculating a carbon footprint by measuring the amount of greenhouse gas emissions currently being produced.
2. Reducing emissions where possible.
3. Remaining emissions that can’t be avoided are offset by purchasing carbon credits.

Find out more about measuring your carbon footprint here.

What about carbon neutral and climate neutral?

Net zero, when applied to an entity or organisation, is not the same thing as carbon neutrality.

To be carbon neutral, an organisation or entity must prevent any increases in emissions and use offsets to balance current emissions. To be net zero, an organisation must first reduce its emissions as much as possible, then use offsets to balance out any remaining emissions.

Because people like to simplify things, we have grown to see carbon as the major factor in climate change; this use of carbon as a single, easy-to-measure unit of impact on global warming in turn leads to an inference that carbon neutrality only refers to carbon dioxide, and that climate neutrality refers to all greenhouse gases. But in reality, this is not the case. Offset credits are measured in CO₂-equivalent (CO₂-e) units, but can still account for other greenhouse gases other than just CO₂. These other greenhouse gases, such as nitrous oxide and hydrofluorocarbons, have different levels of impact of climate. In general, these are shorter-lived than CO₂, and so global warming resulting from their levels is better determined by present-day emission rate (plus a small correction) rather than cumulative emissions.

References

The meaning of net zero and how to get it right, Nature, 2021.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01245-w

Towards net zero: Practical policies to offset carbon emissions, Grattan Institute, 2021.
https://grattan.edu.au/report/towards-net-zero-practical-policies-to-offset-carbon-emissions/

Carbon neutral certification, Carbon Trust, 2021.
https://www.carbontrust.com/what-we-do/assurance-and-certification/carbon-neutral-certification

Additional icons sourced from Flaticon.

The company has offset its carbon emissions since 2006 and has successfully reduced its carbon footprint so that they take more carbon from the atmosphere than they emit.

To compensate for their carbon emissions, Cullen Wines has been buying carbon credits which support tree planting in Carbon Neutral’s Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor 400km north of Perth.

The distinguished winery is a leader in biodynamic, sustainable and solar-powered practices. Cullen Wines Managing Director and Chief Winemaker Vanya Cullen said the company’s philosophy of “quality, integrity and sustainability” led it to approach carbon solutions provider Carbon Neutral.

“It is the way forward and our little piece to balance carbon and climate change,” Ms Cullen said.

Carbon Neutral identified and calculated the emissions associated with Cullen’s day to day operations. Tractor use, agricultural practices, air miles, packaging and freight, were among the components measured.

Carbon Neutral Chief Executive Officer Ray Wilson said “the fact that Cullen Wines is now carbon negative is impressive. This is a great case study of how a business has reduced carbon intensity over time through production efficiencies and has now become ‘carbon negative’ through soil carbon sequestration.”

Carbon Neutral studied the amount of organic carbon stored in the soil of Cullens’ 31ha vineyard over the five years from 2014.

“Broadly, it is well recognised the amount of organic carbon stored in Australian soils could be increased by changing land management practices”, said Mr Wilson. “This will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase farm productivity and potentially create offsets.”

Moves towards reducing – or even eliminating – a carbon footprint align with the West Australian State Government’s push for WA farmers to adopt regenerative agriculture practices, said Mr Wilson. The Government estimates land degradation to cost WA’s agricultural production sector more than $2 billion each year.

Cullen Wines implemented dedicated changes, including intensive soil management and composting alongside the existing biodynamic methods.

The amount of soil organic carbon (SOC) at testing sites on the Wilyabrup winery indicate that soil in the ground has increased more than 2602 tonnes between 2014 and 2019, on average 520 tonnes a year.

Wine critic and writer Ray Jordan said Cullen Wines’ focus on environmental benchmarks is to be commended.

“By any measure, winemaker Vanya Cullen’s decision to adopt a rigorous biodynamics approach in the vineyard and winery, together with other environmentally sound initiatives aimed it eliminating carbon footprint, has been a resounding success,” Mr Jordan said. “But it is in the quality and consistency of the wines that the impact is most profound. The flagship Diana Madeline is among Margaret River’s elite cabernets with its brightness and energy features of the biodynamic approach. The chardonnays share a similar status with the purity and precision capturing the best of this variety.”

“This has really opened our eyes to what you can do,” said Mr Wilson. “The numbers around soil carbon achieved by Cullen’s has astounded us.”

Cullen Wine’s environmental success shows how reducing an organisation’s carbon footprint without compromising mission or profit is within reach. Ms Cullen urges fellow growers and producers to “go carbon neutral now”.