Global agribusiness and food ingredients company Bunge has made new strides in sustainability, detailed in its 2021 Global Sustainability Report. However, the company warns that a meaningful environmental impact can only be made with involvement from more parties, especially when it comes to deforestation. 

“We have the most ambitious global non-deforestation commitment in the sector – at least five years ahead of our main competitors. It includes every crop we source, everywher we have a presence,” says Rob Coviello, Bunge’s chief sustainability officer and government affairs leader.

Protecting the forests
The 2021 report highlights the company’s initiatives across three core pillars: Action on Climate, Responsible Supply Chains and Accountability.

It also includes Bunge’s Global Non-Deforestation Report, featuring progress against soy sourcing in key regions at a higher risk of deforestation, including the Cerrado region of South America and the critical palm-producing areas in Southeast Asia. 

Bunge continues making significant strides toward its commitment to achieving deforestation-free supply chains by 2025 and has consistently issued reports describing progress in key performance indicators.

The Global Non-Deforestation Report includes details on Bunge’s traceability and monitoring efforts, supplier and farmer engagement – including digital tools and incentives – actions against non-compliance, multi-stakeholder collaborations and sustainability certifications.

Focus on soy and palm oil
For soy sourcing in South America, this is Bunge’s tenth report that showcases its performance on the ground, with 100 percent traceability to all direct-source farms in the high-priority areas of South America.  

Additionally, the company shares detailed information about how its teams carry out farmer engagement processes when deforestation or conversion of land in South America is detected.

For palm oil sourcing, Bunge has been focused on high traceability and boasts “one of the highest traceability-to-plantation numbers” in the industry. 

In its Global Non-Deforestation Report and palm oil dashboard, Bunge now reports 98 percent traceability to mill and 77 percent traceability to plantation – two critical measures for the sourcing of this commodity.

“Never before has sustainability been so critical to our business and our future,” says Greg Heckman, Bunge’s CEO. 

“At Bunge, this means we factor the environmental and social challenges we must address into the daily business decisions we make while we continue to connect farmers to consumers to deliver the food, feed and fuel that society depends on every day.”

Toward a forest-friendly world
While plant-based ingredients have been touted for their lower environmental impact when compared to conventional dairy, a report from the UK last August suggested that soy cultivated on land converted from forest or savannah land can have “a very high carbon footprint.”

In other moves against deforestation, Mars revealed last October that its Palm Positive Plan has delivered a deforestation-free palm oil supply chain.

“Yet, our actions will only be successful in achieving broader success against deforestation if we work together through multi-stakeholder collaboration.” 

“By seeking industry alignment on common definitions, cutoff dates and other measures, we will witness more impactful and long-lasting transformation in the sector – none of which will happen if companies act alone.”