St. Louis, MO - January 11, 2021 - 2020 was a year of challenge for many across our sector. Yet, as our employees and leaders around the globe focused on meeting the needs of our customers, we remained steadfast in our commitment to sustainability. We continue to make decisions across our value chain built on a foundation of ethical leadership, accountability and environmental stewardship, and we're proud of the progress we made in the past year.
The following are some of the key advancements we made in 2020.
- Development of a new sustainability approach. Our new approach is grounded in three pillars - Action on Climate, Responsible Supply Chains and Accountability. With these at our core, we'll best capture our goals and activities, while also strengthening the connection between sustainability and our business.
- Hosted Bunge's first-ever sustainability stakeholder forum. In May 2020, we welcomed representatives from Bunge's customers, banks, industry associations, NGO partners and our very own leadership to provide feedback on our sustainability approach, performance and key opportunities moving forward.
- Made progress with our sustainability-linked loan. Bunge closed its first $1.75 billion revolving credit facility linked to performance across five sustainability targets in late 2019. We continue to meet and often exceed our annual targets, making us a more reliable partner for banks and financial institutions.
- Supported communities in which we operate through COVID-19 relief. Bunge announced a $2.5 million commitment to supporting health and hunger causes directly related to the pandemic in the communities where we work across the globe. Many of our employees also contributed through volunteering efforts and personal donations.
- Strengthened farmer and grower engagement. Bunge launched programs and technology solutions to help our upstream suppliers become more connected. These include the Where Life Grows program for shea collectors in Ghana, the launch of AgroApp in Brazil, the roll-out of Agroideal.org in Argentina and Paraguay, supporting growers in North America through Centerfield and special projects with the Soft Commodities Forum.
- Improved traceability and monitoring practices. Bunge saw growth in traceability of our supply chains, particularly with South American soy and palm oil, from farm and plantation. We've been able to monitor larger areas of land, despite our increasing volumes. These efforts, detailed in our 2020 progress reports and dashboard, help to address sustainability risks like deforestation in our supply chains for both Bunge, our customers and our investors.
- Co-founded the Sea Cargo Charter. Today's sustainability challenges require collective action. That's why we prioritize joining collaborative initiatives that bring solutions to challenges like climate change. The Sea Cargo Charter is a global framework that allows for the integration of climate considerations into chartering decisions that favor climate-aligned maritime transport.
- Increased our ESG scores. In the end of 2020, Bunge jumped to "B" scores for CDP Forests, Water and Climate, one of the most important platforms used by our major global customers to assess their suppliers' sustainability efforts. And, we continue to receive AAA ratings from MSCI, positioning us ahead of our industry peers.
About Bunge Limited
Bunge (www.bunge.com, NYSE: BG) is a world leader in sourcing, processing and supplying oilseed and grain products and ingredients. Founded in 1818, Bunge's expansive network feeds and fuels a growing world, creating sustainable products and opportunities for more than 70,000 farmers and the consumers they serve across the globe. The company is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri and has 24,000 employees worldwide who stand behind more than 350 port terminals, oilseed processing plants, grain facilities, and food and ingredient production and packaging facilities around the world.
Website Information
We routinely post important information for investors on our website, www.bunge.com, in the "Investors" section. We may use this website as a means of disclosing material, non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor the Investors section of our website, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls, presentations and webcasts. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, our website is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this document.
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