Make the world a better place with your cup of joe.

To celebrate UK coffee week last week, Percol – a fairtrade, organic coffee company founded in 1987 – set up The World’s Most Sustainable Coffee Shop Pop-Up in Old Street, London. The aim: encourage caffeine-addicted consumers to think twice about what has gone into the production of their flat whites and cappuccinos. Apparently, it’s not just for virtuous bragging rights. A thoughtful approach to our favourite pastime will mean, in the long run, we get to drink better coffee – and we can help to halt climate change in the process. To find out more, we asked managing director of Percol, Mr David Brooks, to spill the beans.

“Whether coffee is rainforest alliance or Fairtrade accredited, and sustainable, relates to how it is grown and cultivated. For example, organic or no pesticides are used. And the carbon impact is minimised right the way through the supply chain. We source our coffee from Sweden and Denmark, we work with a company called Löfbergs – a family-owned business. They source the raw beans from the likes of Colombia and Brazil. Two thirds of our coffee comes from South America. It is transported by boat. And then we use trains when it gets into Denmark and Sweden.”

“I was in Colombia for the first world coffee conference last summer with coffee farmers from all over the world. The reality is, by 2050, if we don’t do something pretty damn quick, half of the coffee-growing regions of the world will be gone. This is partly due to climate change and the impact that it has on rainfall patterns. That belt around the equator where you can actually grow coffee is shrinking rapidly. Coffee grows at between about 1,500 and 1,800ft above sea level. Ideal conditions are steady rainfall and proper levels of humidity. Climate change starts to impact on that. Areas in Africa are most affected, such as Kenya and Ethiopia.”

“We build long-term relationships with farmers – we’re helping them to uphold the tradition of farming. A big issue in Colombia is that the average age of the farmer is 57. To make it sustainable, we’re working hard with younger farmers in a Next Generation project to pay a fair price to help them to keep farming profitable. The beans that we use are Next Generation coffee farmers beans sourced directly from farmers in the likes of Colombia and Tanzania. We have traceability – with the farms as well as the regions. Large-scale coffee shops are less able to do this.”

“Think about where you’re buying your coffee. Some commercial coffee shops – the coffee they source is not accredited. There are other very simple things, like drinking from reusable cups. We ask people to consider whether they need dairy milk in your coffee. The methane issue with cows is quite serious. My friend who is lactose intolerant asked me to try soya milk and it doesn’t really taste any different.”