GFLI announces a new partnership with AdAstra Sustainability, a Swiss data solutions company, to improve the accuracy and granularity of land use change emissions data for feed ingredients.
Why land use change data quality matters more than ever
Land use change (LUC) is often the predominant driver of greenhouse gas emissions in agricultural supply chains, and it is a key focus of voluntary reduction commitments and emerging regulation. The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), the Science Based Targets initiative’s Forest, Land and Agriculture (SBTi FLAG) Guidance , and the recently published Greenhouse Gas Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard (LSRS) are all increasing expectations regarding how companies quantify, report, and reduce emissions from land conversion. This evolving landscape calls for more accurate and credible data, which is what this partnership is designed to deliver to all GFLI members.
Introducing Orbae and the jurisdictional direct LUC approach
At the core of this partnership is AdAstra’s Orbae technology, which uses a new calculation method to assess climate impacts from land use change. Rather than relying on statistical land use change (sLUC) — a country-level approach that looks at broad correlations, Orbae applies jurisdictional direct land use change (jdLUC). This approach directly links crop production to ecosystem conversion using high-resolution maps of crop classification and detailed land-use history data in a minimum resolution of 30 meters. Data pixels are then aggregated to reflect any area of interest. The result is a more accurate, spatially explicit picture of the causal relationship between agricultural activity and land conversion.
This aligns with the hierarchical preference for direct land use change (dLUC) set out in the LSRS. The jdLUC approach is compatible with farm-level (LMU-level) dLUC data; the two are based on the same accounting principles and can be meaningfully combined and compared.
What this means for GFLI and our members
In the near term, Orbae data will be integrated to improve GFLI’s national-level LUC figures. Over time, this partnership will enable:
- Greater granularity and accuracy in emissions breakdowns across key feed commodities
- Branded datasets that better reflect individual sourcing practices and verified deforestation- and conversion-free (DCF) status
- Robust GHG reporting under SBTi FLAG and in alignment with the LSRS
- Scalable solutions designed to meet the increasing demand for primary data and supply chain traceability across the feed, food, retail, and pet care sectors
Coming soon
This integrated solution will be available to GFLI members later this year. Become a member to stay ahead of the curve on data quality, emissions reporting, and regulatory readiness.
In the meantime, explore Orbae’s national and subnational LUC emission factors — available as open data — at orbae.eco.