Zero Carbon Forum and BBPA to research climate change’s impact on brewing

The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) and the Zero Carbon Forum have been awarded a grant from the Brewers’ Research and Education Fund (BREF) to investigate the climate risks facing UK brewing supply chains.

The research will support the brewing sector to operate in the long term, in the face of the immediate and future impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss.

Rising temperatures are affecting the production of barley and hops, as well as the yield and quality of crops, which can have a significant impact on UK supply chains.

The forum and BBPA will use the funds to gain an understanding of the risks’ scale of through scientific research and modelling across geographies, timelines and different global warming scenarios, and to identify effective measures to mitigate them.

Emma McClarkin, CEO of the BBPA said: “This study will give us crucial insights into how climate risks are directly impacting supply chains, and how we can take steps to understand how we as an industry mitigate them as we continue to ask the government to come forward with a number of financial measures and incentives that will provide our farming system with an incentive structure which further encourages sustainable approaches to farming.”

Mark Chapman, founder and CEO of Zero Carbon Forum, said: “We are grateful to BREF for this grant that will enable us to complete the final stages of our Brewing Risk and Resilience Study. The brewing and hospitality industry is under immense pressure, and with the effects of climate change becoming increasingly evident, this research is extremely important to help highlight the current and future environmental risks facing the sector today and how we will overcome them.”

These challenges being faced across the industry cause uncertainty throughout supply chains and can increase pressure for brewers and pubs.

Chapman added: “We must come together and collaborate as an industry if we want to reduce emissions at pace and build resilience in the sector to operate over the long term.”

In the first phase of the three-phase study, Zero Carbon Forum and the BBPA engaged 21 major brewers and pubs to understand what the industry believes to be the most significant climate risks to their business.

The findings revealed that brewers are primarily concerned about the critical impact of climate change on their supply chains.

The results of the final two parts of the study, expected to be completed in early 2025, will be made available to the broader industry upon publication.

The conclusions should provide the industry with a better understanding of the challenges facing it and how to tackle these going forward.

The BBPA and Zero Carbon Forum have a history of working closely together. In 2022 the two organisations teamed up to launch a bespoke roadmap specifically designed for the brewing sector. This provided support and guidance to breweries across the UK to take steps towards emission reduction targets.

Earlier this year, the not-for-profit organisation launched a sustainable product directory, listing suppliers that are helping reduce hospitality and brewing operators’ supply chain emissions.