Bunge announces progress in its non-deforestation commitments
"In 2015, Bunge announced a commitment to be free of deforestation and native vegetation conversion in our value chains in 2025. Through the concerted efforts of our global organization and partners, we are on track to meet a major piece of this commitment early.
“By the end of this year, we anticipate that we will no longer source soy from areas defined as at-risk of being deforested or where native vegetation has been converted to farmland due to soy cropping," said Robert J Coviello, chief sustainability officer and government affairs, Bunge, in the company's latest sustainability report.
Reacting to the move, Alex Wijeratna, senior director at Might Earth, told FeedNavigator:
“Bunge’s new 2024 cut-off target for deforestation and conversion-free soy is a small step forward and potentially means one less year of destruction in Brazil’s threatened biomes, but the soy giant remains out of step with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) which has a legally binding 2020 cut-off date. This means any soy grown on land deforested after 2020 will not be compliant with the new law.
“Deforestation and conversion are still surging in the Cerrado and the Pantanal and there's a very real danger there will be a race to clear more land over the next few months, pushing these biomes closer to collapse.
“With our Rapid Response monitoring system, we'll be watching the situation very closely to pinpoint any deforestation or conversion in Bunge’s direct and indirect soy supply chains.”
Additionally, Bunge reveals that, in 2023, it achieved a total reduction of its Scope 1 and 2 emissions of around 15.8% and saw a reduction of 10.6% in Scope 3 emissions from its value chains.
Blockchain
The trader's review also outlines the feasibility studies it is conducting for the development of a blockchain traceability solution for deforestation-free soy and derived products.
“The study involves grains originating in Brazil and destined for various countries in Asia. The aim is to build a sustainable, digitally integrated supply chain that enables the transfer of grain traceability data, involving information from the field to the final customer, with an additional layer of reliability that blockchain technology offers.”
