Biodiversity and No Deforestation
As in our recent “People & Nature Commitment: Making business work for people and nature“, social and environmental challenges require prompt action to mitigate and adapt to climate change, halt and reverse biodiversity loss, ensure safe, fair, and equitable working conditions for all.
We are committed to contributing our part to the Paris Climate Agreement target of limiting global temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels by significantly reducing our carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Beyond carbon, we are also committing to a more holistic vision of our impact on nature and people. We are setting targets to improve our water-use efficiency and water-quality treatment, reduce waste, and conserve biodiversity within our operations and supply chain, while respecting human rights and ensuring a safe, healthy, just and equitable working environment throughout the business.
Our commitments
With these actions we contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals
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Net Zero carbon emissions in scopes 1, 2, and 3 by 2050
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Annual water consumption within boundaries that are safe for people and the environment
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Eliminate air and water pollution
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Recovering of operational waste
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Net-positive impact on biodiversity by 2030 in operations and supply chain
Target:
Ecosystems impact
Together with a third party we did our first Biodiversity Impact Assessment (BIA), whose first step was to carry out a proximity analysis of our paper mills to check their location in relation to protected areas of biodiversity interest. The Assessment highlighted four main activities likely to cause direct impacts on biodiversity: land use of production facilities, water withdrawal, water discharge, and operational activities.
Based on that, we will define and implement the mitigation strategy for our biodiversity impacts, both in the areas analyzed and throughout the supply chain.
Pulp supply chain
In 2022 we are committing to Zero Gross Deforestation or Conversion of Natural Ecosystems. As a Group, we neither own nor manage forests, and the pulp comes only from our suppliers, to whom we require 100% pulp certified FSC. We manage our supply chain by verifying and assessing the origin of all fibers through risk analysis. Since 2023 we are committing to increasing the FSC Chain of Custody (COC) cellulose part, reducing the FSC Control Wood (CW) fibers and in 2023 we have developed our People and Nature Commitment, where all the actions defined are aligned with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and the Global Goal for Nature frameworks.
Water management
Our business would not exist without water. We have recently set a new target to reduce water withdrawals by 10% (vs. 2022), in addition to the goal of returning 95% of the water we use to the environment, at the appropriate conditions and temperature with respect to the receiving water body. To reach our 2030 goals, we seek to reduce withdrawal and waste by minimizing the introduction of fresh water into production cycles, and to use cutting-edge techniques in the treatment of water before returning it to the natural environment.