Carbon footprint

Carbon footprint is one indicator of climate impact 

A carbon footprint describes the climate burden caused by a product, service or activity during defined life cycle stages. It is calculated based on greenhouse gas emissions and reported as carbon dioxide equivalents (CO₂e), which makes it possible to express the impacts of different greenhouse gases in a comparable way. The carbon footprint helps identify the most significant sources of emissions, monitor progress and target measures to reduce climate impacts. For this reason, the carbon footprint is the most commonly used indicator for assessing the climate impacts of products, companies and value chains, but it does not describe all environmental impacts.

A key objective of Atria’s climate work is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at different stages of the production chain. Through carbon footprint calculation, we identify the most significant sources of emissions and target emission reduction measures together with our contract producers. Regular carbon footprint calculation also enables us to monitor greenhouse gas emissions at group level and the progress of our SBTi climate targets. 

Atria has calculated the carbon footprint of pork, beef and chicken in Finland from family farms up to the slaughterhouse gate. In addition, we have calculated the emissions from our factories, and the product-specific carbon footprint from family farms to the factory gate is also shown to consumers on the packaging of our chicken products and selected farm-traceable pork products. 

The carbon footprint calculation for primary production of chicken and pork has been carried out using the EnvitecVisio Environmental Calculator, and for beef using the Carbo® Environmental Calculator. Calculations based on 2024 input data covered more than 70% of chicken, approximately 95% of farm-traceable pork and more than 50% of beef.