Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: The Sustainable Food Policy Alliance (SFPA) is somewhat actively engaged on climate policy in the US. It supports policies on renewable energy and GHG emission standards, but takes more negative positions on land-use related climate policy, such as legislation to prevent commodity-driven deforestation in agriculture supply chains.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: The Sustainable Food Policy Alliance has positive top-line messaging on climate. SFPA recognized the need for government regulation to achieve a circular economy in a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from February 2024, and in a June 2022 position paper, it supported limiting global warming to 1.5C. On its website, accessed in October 2024, the alliance supports state and regional policies to respond to climate change alongside government financial incentives to reduce GHG emissions.
Engagement with Climate-Related Regulations: In a March 2023 letter to the leadership of the House and Senate Agriculture committees, the Sustainable Food Policy Alliance called for scaling up renewable energy through the US Farm Bill. In an April 2022 joint letter, it called for tax credits and incentives for renewable legislation in the US. The Alliance also supported increasing the scope of the EPA’s proposed GHG emissions standards for power plants in August 2023 comments on the rules. Additionally, in a tweet from May 2024, the group appeared to support Minnesota’s Extended Producer Responsibility, a measure to reduce packaging waste and facilitate a circular economy. However, according to its website accessed in October 2024, SFPA does not state clear support for implementing policy according to the waste hierarchy, instead stating that 'there is no single solution to packaging waste,' suggesting a broader approach might be preferred.
Engagement with Land Use-Related Climate Regulations: The Sustainable Food Policy Alliance (SFPA) offers less positive positions on land-use related climate policies. On its website, it expresses support for strong legislation to address deforestation in agricultural supply chains, as well as specific regulatory measures and targets relating to offsetting emissions. In a tweet from December 2022, the alliance also stated support for the Growing Climate Solutions Act, a voluntary carbon market legislation in the US. However, in a letter to the US Department of Agriculture in December 2022, the SFPA noted that timelines should be “realistic” in legislation to prevent commodity driven deforestation in agricultural supply chains. The Alliance does not articulate a position on the transition of diets towards plant-based diets in 2021-24.
Positioning on Energy Transition: The Sustainable Food Policy Alliance (SFPA) appears to generally support the transition of the energy mix, although evidence from recent years is limited. In an August 2022 press release, it generally supported the US Inflation Reduction Act. A joint letter in April 2022 supported legislation and incentives to scale up electric vehicles, electrification, “clean” hydrogen, and carbon sequestration. InfluenceMapwas not able to find evidence of SFPA’s position on, or engagement with, the transition of the energy mix in 2024. 
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q4 2024.