We implement innovative solutions to minimize our environmental footprint and support projects and activities that strengthen our approach to fighting climate change.
Addressing the realities of climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing our planet today. Rapid changes in the environment have had a direct impact on nearly everyone in our industry and in the communities where we live and work. With the urgency of climate action greater than ever, we are committed to doing our part to find tangible solutions to the crisis, and are scaling up our ambition more than ever before. Learn more about our climate action progress by reading our 2022 Global Sustainability Report.
It starts with how we think as a business. Driven by a variety of teams and levels of leadership, we have embraced climate-focused decision-making with strong business benefits. Nearly every decision we make from our growth strategy, to our investments, to our partnerships, all look at the associated climate impact. This is not only good for our business—it's also the right thing to do for a more sustainable global food system.
Science Based Targets
Having a climate-focused mindset unlocks major new opportunities for Bunge. That's why we were able to take a big leap forward by establishing science-based targets for our operations and our supply chain. Our SBTs are a natural outcome of the work we're already doing, but will also raise our level of ambition for the years ahead.
The targets, validated by the Science Based Targets initiative, call for a 25% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, and a 12% reduction in Scope 3 emissions, to be achieved by 2030 from a 2020 baseline.
In our first year of measurement, we made good progress on both our targets, achieving a nearly 5% reduction for Scope 1 and 2, and a 2% reduction for Scope 3. This progress was mostly driven by several Bunge facilities switching to carbon-free sources of electricity, and an upate of certified products that have lower carbon attributes.
Over the coming years, we will make significant enhancements across our global operations, promote regenerative farming practices, and emphasize decarbonization in shipping and logistics. A substantial portion of the emissions reduction within our supply chains will be driven by our commitment to achieve deforestation-free supply chains in 2025. These ambitious targets are supported by our decades-long history of enhancements to our operations, investments in low-carbon and carbon-free energy sources, and our strong relationships with value chain partners.
Bunge remains focused on creating clear and measurable paths to achieving our sustainability goals and supporting the decarbonization of the industry. The new science-based targets demonstrate our commitment to providing low-carbon and deforestation-free products to our customers, supporting the development of next-generation renewable fuels and deepening our approach to sustainability in our operations and across our value chain.
Environmental Goals
Since 2008, Bunge has set targets to reduce the company’s environmental footprint. We have exceeded these targets and, in 2016, set a 10-year goal to further reduce water, waste and energy intensity by 10% per metric ton of production, which we are on track to achieve. This is being done through the deployment our Bunge Production System (BPS) in all regions where we operate, the implementation of technology at our facilities, and continuous improvement processes. It is also the result of the creation of our energy working group, which is successfully finding ways to optimize energy consumption in our plants.
Climate Risks and Opportunities
Bunge has developed enhancements to its enterprise risk management process by incorporating more detailed sustainability risks and opportunities. These include risks emanating from changing climate and weather patterns, water scarcity, deforestation, human rights, farmer productivity and increasing taxation and regulation on GHG emissions. The enhanced process provide Bunge with greater oversight and management of climate-related risks and the potential financial implications, and will help ensure continued short-, medium- and long-term resilience.
Climate risks are overseen at the Board of Directors level by the Enterprise Risk Management Committee which has responsibility for supervising the quality and integrity of our risk management practices. Enterprise risk management is overseen at the executive level by the Chief Risk Officer with input from relevant teams and functions, and reported regularly to Bunge’s leadership and the Board of Directors.
You can learn more about our approach to climate related risks and opportunities in our CDP Climate report.
