ADM extends commitments for sustainable palm and soy production
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The ADM industry solutions and ingredients group has renewed its commitment to sustainable, ethical and responsible production with a revamped policy on protecting forests, biodiversity and communities, writes Neill Barston.
As the business explained to Confectionery Production, tis previous policy was issued in 2015, and it has began the process of reviewing and revising it last year as a step toward building a more resilient and environmentally aware food system.
Notably, the company, which produces a series of flavour and texture applications for markets including the confectionery sector, confirmed that it aims to eliminate deforestation from all of the company’s supply chains by 2030.
“ADM is the bridge between the producer on the farm and the consumer-facing brands on our tables, and we are in the unique position to influence sustainable practices across the entire supply chain,” said Chairman and CEO Juan Luciano.
“As we carry out our mission to unlock the power of nature to enrich lives, we recognise the critical role natural resources play in the future of our planet. We are fully committed to ending deforestation and to preserving biodiversity and water resources in our supply chain. This new policy reaffirms ADM’s commitment to responsible sourcing and will help us further reduce the impact of our operations and supply chain, and continue to hold our suppliers to high standards.”
The new policy includes provisions that promote conservation of water resources and biodiversity in agricultural landscapes, promote solutions to reduce climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, and support agriculture as a means to advance sustainable development by reducing poverty and increasing food security.
Additionally, the policy confirms its commitment to protect human rights defenders, whistleblowers, complainants, and community spokespersons; ADM’s aspiration to cooperate with all parties necessary to enable access to fair and just remediation; and the company’s non-compliance protocol for suppliers.
By the end of 2022, the company expects to achieve full traceability of its direct and indirect sourcing throughout its soy supply chains in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.
In the soy supply chain, its goal is to end native vegetation conversion in the shortest time possible, reconciling production of soy with environmental, economic and social interests in high risk areas such as the Cerrado and Chaco biomes in South America.
Furthermore, it has also achieved a high level of traceability to the mill in the palm supply chain and is working to increase traceability to plantations.
To accelerate transformation and effective implementation of our commitments, the business joined the Palm Oil Collaboration Group (POCG), a multi-stakeholder initiative including companies from every stage of the palm oil supply chain.
The company is actively participating in collaborative action to implement the Integrated Reporting Framework (IRF). In order to address social issues across the palm supply chain, the business publishes supply chain-specific action plans and biannual progress reports focused on palm oil and South American soy, which contain specific milestones and data on the company’s continued progress toward meeting its sustainability goals.
In addition, the company said it will continue its study of how the company can increase the scale, pace and rigour of its efforts to eliminate deforestation and native vegetation conversion in its supply chains and issue a report on the subject by the end of the first quarter of 2022.
