Agri-footprint 7.0 FLAG - methods and changes
Summary
| Publisher | Agri-footprint (Blonk Milieu Advies) |
| Full name | Agri-footprint |
| Description | Emission factors published in the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) database for the agriculture and food sector, developed by Blonk Milieu Advies B.V. This dataset contains LCIA scores on carbon footprint and land use change (LUC) impact categories (in tCO2e), modelled in accordance with the SBTi Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) guidelines and the EF3.1 v1.00 methodology, consistent with European Commission standards. The database covers food, feed and agricultural intermediate products across 60+ geographies, including approximately 5,000 processes, 420 market mixes, 582 cultivations, 212 food products and 37 animal production systems. |
| Publications included | AFP 7.0 FLAG |
Source documents
Agri-footprint - LCA food database
The full Agri-footprint 7.0 FLAG Methodology Report is not publicly published. It can be requested on demand directly from Blonk / Agri-footprint (tools@blonksustainability.nl).
Methodology readout notes
General methodology
Agri-footprint 7.0 FLAG re-calculates all Agri-footprint 7.0 datasets using EF3.1 v1.00 characterisation factors (SimaPro 9.6). Compared to the standard Agri-footprint 7.0 database, which uses the PEF-compliant PAS 2050-1 methodology for land use change (LUC) calculations, the FLAG version applies linear discounting for LUC emissions in line with SBTi Guidance.
Each dataset publishes climate change results across four parallel columns:
• Climate change (total, EF3.1)
• Climate change – Biogenic
• Climate change – Fossil
• Climate change – Land use and LU change
Within each of these, results are further split by FLAG sub-category:
• Land use change (LUC) emissions
• Land use management (non-LUC) emissions
• Remaining (Non-FLAG) Emissions
For SBTi FLAG reporting purposes, Carbon+Alt+Delete disregards the EF3.1 climate-change sub-categorisation (Biogenic/Fossil/Land use and LUC) and maps emission factors exclusively according to the FLAG terminology (Land use change, Land management, Remaining non-FLAG), in line with the Agri-footprint 7.0 FLAG Methodology Report (Blonk, December 2025).
FLAG impact categories explained
| FLAG impact category | FLAG sub-category | Explanation |
| Land use change (LUC) emissions | CO2e LUC Deforestation and Degradation | LUC modelling is only applied to crop cultivations; it covers deforestation as well as conversions from grassland/orchard systems. Values are a CO2e aggregate of CO2, CH4 and N2O. |
| Land use change (LUC) emissions | CO2e LUC Wetland and Savanna Conversion and Peatland | Peat emissions, accounted for only at the cultivation stage. Includes CO2, CH4 and N2O. Coastal wetland LUC is excluded; savanna/grassland conversion sits under Deforestation and Degradation. |
| Land use management (non-LUC) emissions | CH4 Enteric | Biogenic methane from enteric fermentation in ruminant housing systems. |
| Land use management (non-LUC) emissions | CH4 Flooded Soil | Biogenic methane from flooded rice cultivation. |
| Land use management (non-LUC) emissions | CH4 Manure Management | Biogenic methane from manure storage. |
| Land use management (non-LUC) emissions | CO2 N2O (Synthetic) Fertilizer Direct | Direct N2O from synthetic fertilizer application, plus fossil CO2 from lime/urea-related fertilizer use (not separately specified by SBTi FLAG). |
| Land use management (non-LUC) emissions | CO2 N2O Fertilizer Production | Emissions at synthetic fertilizer plants (urea, nitric acid, ammonia production only); upstream fuel/resource production and oil exploration excluded. |
| Land use management (non-LUC) emissions | CO2e Machinery | On-farm diesel use in machinery only; electricity generation/use on-farm and upstream fuel production are excluded. |
| Land use management (non-LUC) emissions | N2O Crop Residue | Direct and indirect N2O from crop residues. |
| Land use management (non-LUC) emissions | N2O Fertilizer Indirect | Indirect N2O from leaching, runoff and volatilization of synthetic fertilizer. |
| Land use management (non-LUC) emissions | N2O Manure Direct / N2O Manure Indirect | Direct emissions during manure storage (animal system) and indirect emissions during manure application (cultivation system). |
| Remaining (Non-FLAG) Emissions | Remaining (Non-FLAG) Emissions | All remaining non-FLAG emissions. |
Field-level mapping to Carbon+Alt+Delete
Every AFP field is mapped 1:1 to a Carbon+Alt+Delete Emissions/Removals, Type, GHG and Life Cycle combination.
| FLAG impact category | FLAG sub-category | CAD: Emissions/Removals | CAD: Type | CAD: GHG |
| Land use change (LUC) emissions | CO2e LUC Deforestation And Degradation | Emissions | Land use change | CO2e |
| Land use change (LUC) emissions | CO2e LUC Wetland And Savanna Conversion And Peatland | Emissions | Land use change | CO2e |
| Land use management (non-LUC) emissions | CH4 Enteric | Emissions | Land management | CH4 |
| Land use management (non-LUC) emissions | CH4 Flooded Soil | Emissions | Land management | CH4 |
| Land use management (non-LUC) emissions | CH4 Manure Management | Emissions | Land management | CH4 |
| Land use management (non-LUC) emissions | CO2 N2O (Synthetic) Fertilizer Direct | Emissions | Land management | CO2e |
| Land use management (non-LUC) emissions | CO2 N2O Fertilizer Production | Emissions | Land management | CO2e |
| Land use management (non-LUC) emissions | CO2e Machinery | Emissions | Land management | CO2e |
| Land use management (non-LUC) emissions | N2O Crop Residue | Emissions | Land management | N2O |
| Land use management (non-LUC) emissions | N2O Fertilizer Indirect | Emissions | Land management | N2O |
| Land use management (non-LUC) emissions | N2O Manure Direct | Emissions | Land management | N2O |
| Land use management (non-LUC) emissions | N2O Manure Indirect | Emissions | Land management | N2O |
| Remaining (Non-FLAG) Emissions | Remaining (Non-FLAG) Emissions | Emissions | Fossil | CO2e |
Full column-level codes (AFP_CODE → CAD_CODE) are maintained in the mapping file and are available on request.
Allocation approach
Agri-footprint publishes multiple allocation methods (e.g. economic, mass) for many processes. Where all allocation methods return identical values for a given dataset, only one allocation method is kept in Carbon+Alt+Delete to avoid duplicating factors.
Transport
• All transport emission factors are expressed per tonne-kilometre (t·km), tagged internally under TRANSPORT_OPS.
• As with other datasets, only one allocation method is kept where allocation methods are identical.
• Flight-related factors are mapped without radiative forcing (RF) uplift.
Electricity, heat and steam
• Electricity, heat and steam datasets are tagged internally under ELECTRICITY & HEAT/STEAM.
• These factors are intended for Scope 3 use, not Scope 2 electricity reporting.
• Only one allocation method is kept where allocation methods are identical.
• Agri-footprint only publishes a location-based (LB) factor for these datasets; this is automatically classified as location-based in Carbon+Alt+Delete.
• All factors in this dataset are treated as life cycle factors.
Data considerations and notes
General content notes
• Agri-footprint is a licensed dataset. Please check the terms of your Carbon+Alt+Delete licence before using those emission factors.
• Where Agri-footprint does not specify a GHG for a given field, it is mapped as CO2e.
• All life cycle stages are mapped as Combined: the underlying AFP life cycle classification only meaningfully distinguishes stages for energy-related activities, which is not relevant to the majority of this dataset.
• AFP 7.0 FLAG output contains two parallel classification dimensions: the EF3.1 climate-change sub-categories (Biogenic, Fossil, Land use and LUC) and the SBTi FLAG emission categories (Land use change, Land management, Remaining non-FLAG). Carbon+Alt+Delete maps exclusively on the FLAG dimension for SBTi FLAG reporting purposes.
What's new
Important methodological changes
Agri-footprint 7.0 FLAG replaces the PAS 2050-1 LUC methodology used in standard Agri-footprint 7.0 with linear discounting of LUC emissions, in line with SBTi FLAG Guidance. It also introduces more detailed FLAG impact categorisation compared to Agri-footprint 6.3 FLAG, alongside updated activity data (crop yields, LUC, manure, fertilizer, seed and pesticide data), an Ecoinvent background update to v3.10, and the introduction of the Crop System Efficiency Index (CSEI) replacing the double-cropping methodology.