WSP to analyze farmland and timberland for GHG intensity and carbon sink potential

Logo courtesy PSP Investments.

Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) has partnered with consulting engineering firm WSP to conduct a detailed climate analysis of its global natural resources portfolio.

The analysis will cover more than three million hectares of farmland and timberland on more than 400 individual properties across six countries, spanning a wide variety of crops, including timber, tree nuts, vineyards, fruit, grain, cotton and animal protein.

The first objective is to establish a portfolio-wide baseline of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using farm-level data. This information will support the development and implementation of science-based decarbonization transition plans.

The second objective is to determine the sequestration capabilities of PSP Investments’ natural resources assets in different carbon pools (e.g. biomass and soil organic carbon), leveraging academic studies, third-party expert knowledge and on-the-ground experience of local management teams to quantify and report biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) removals and storage.

“Through this work, we will help PSP Investments and its partners fully understand the footprint of their GHD emissions and advance knowledge of carbon sequestration on agricultural lands,” says Mel de Jager, WSP’s vice-president for climate change, resilience and sustainability.

WSP’s climate analysis will integrate with PSP Investments’ participation in the Farmland Management Standard pilot program from Leading Harvest, a non-profit organization that focuses on sustainable agriculture. The program aims to standardize sustainability measurement and reporting across agriculture and food production.

“This groundbreaking project with WSP will give us the detailed, farm-by-farm information we need to help our map out a path to global net-zero,” says Marc Drouin, senior managing director and global head of natural resources at PSP Investments.