Suzano, the world’s largest hardwood pulp producer, today held its second annual ESG Call centered around its ambition to be a ‘regenerative company for a regenerative society’. Today’s ESG Call spotlighted measurable progress and ambitions across three core areas of action: climate change, biodiversity and social development.
On Climate Change, the ACT initiative of the French Government and CDP scored Suzano ahead of its pulp and paper industry peers in virtually every metric. In 2021, Suzano brought forward its target for removing 40 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere from 2030 to 2025 which is being achieved through improvements to its industrial processes, such as systematically replacing the use of fossil fuels at its industrial plants with biomass, and through conversion of degraded land.
As part of the company’s social commitments, Suzano launched a target in 2020 to lift 200,000 people out of poverty. This is more than pertinent, given that in Brazil, 10% of the population lives below the poverty line and 33.1 million Brazilians experience hunger. In the first two years of this poverty project, 11,000 people were raised above the poverty line and a further 34,000 people were reached via social programs. This in turn has resulted in income increasing by 57.5% on average, resulting in revenue generation of US$18 million for these communities, only in 2021.
On the biodiversity agenda, Suzano has worked to build a governance system and a detailed action plan based on dialogues with rural producers and local organizations, on field studies and science-based methodologies. In the second semester of 2022, the company will start the restoration of natural forests and the implementation of production models with ecological functions.
Reflecting on Suzano’s ESG goals, CEO Walter Schalka said, “Suzano already leads pioneering projects to develop research-based solutions which tackle climate change, preserve natural landscapes and permanently lift whole communities out of poverty. However, there is so much more to achieve and we cannot do this alone. Beyond reaching our own targets, our mission is to build networks with governments, organizations and individual citizens to drive forward impactful and lasting change and create a regenerative system for the benefit of society.”
A replay of the ESG Call will be made available on the company’s website: https://www.suzano.com.br/en/
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