Company sets 2030 target on deforestation, land conversion in South America
COFCO International has committed to making its soy supply chain free of deforestation and land conversion by 2030 in environmentally sensitive regions of South America, including the Amazon and Cerrado.
The 2030 target would cover the Amazon rainforest region, Brazil's Cerrado savannah belt and the Gran Chaco zone, which spans parts of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay, COFCO International's Chief Executive Wei (David) Dong said in a sustainability report published by the company on Monday.
Biodiversity commitments
The report states that in the wake of the global pandemic, COFCO continued to apply its significant supply chain and logistical expertise to maintaining food security and supplying key markets, overcoming disruption while consistently building resilience and advancing its sustainability journey.
Importantly, the company expanded its focus on protecting the climate and biodiversity and conserving natural resources, including through decisive business and industry commitments.
It has committed to achieve a deforestation and conversion-free soy supply chain by 2030 in sensitive regions of Latin America, through farm-level traceability and monitoring of all purchases.
And it has joined a COP 26 industry pledge to reduce supply chain carbon emissions in line with efforts to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees, with a major focus on eliminating deforestation.
The company’s 2021 Sustainability Report explores its progress and achievements while recognizing opportunities for improvement and highlighting the action still needed to achieve sustainable agriculture and transform the global food system.
Five core areas of sustainability strategy
Progress is reported against the five core areas of its sustainability strategy: connecting supply and demand, taking care of its people, managing its environmental impact, building strong communities and upholding standards.
Global grain traders' sustainability efforts
Like other global grain traders, COFCO International has previously pledged greater auditing of soybean crops to help reduce land clearance in Brazil that is blamed for reducing biodiversity and contributing to global warming.
Bunge has committed to eliminating deforestation in its overall supply chain by 2025, while some Brazilian firms have already announced their sourcing is deforestation-free.
Last year, the company launched an initiative to share best practices with grain dealers about traceability and monitoring of soybeans crops linked to its indirect supply chain in the Cerrado region, one of the high-risk areas of deforestation in Brazil.
Dubbed Bunge Sustainable Partnership, the program will help partners implement supply chain verification systems, including satellite and farm-scale images.
ADM also made a commitment to achieve 100% deforestation-free supply chains by 2025, five years earlier than previously targeted.
The accelerated timeline applies to direct and indirect sourcing of all commodities from every country in ADM’s supply chain.
“Our goal is to end deforestation in the shortest time possible, and the new target date for deforestation-free sourcing demonstrates our ongoing commitment to sustainable, ethical and responsible production,” said Chief Sustainability Officer Alison Taylor.