Nature and biodiversity
Conserving nature and biodiversity
Biodiversity and healthy ecosystems are fundamental to the sustainability, resilience and success of our industry. Thriving species and ecosystems help to ensure crop health , the stability of agriculture and long-term productivity. They contribute to better soil health, so that soils retain water, become more fertile, and build resilience to extreme weather and pests, helping to reduce reliance on chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Protecting biodiversity supports human health, food security and the economy, and helps to mitigate climate change.
We therefore prioritise sustainable sourcing, seek to conserve biodiversity around our sugar operations and promote soil health in our sugarcane plantations. We also empower farmers in our supply chains to adopt sustainable agricultural practices and support their conservation efforts, as we strive to prevent deforestation, conversion and degradation.
Deforestation- and Conversion-Free (DCF) sourcing
COFCO International is strengthening its commitment to addressing land use change as part of our climate strategy, which is reflected by our soy and corn policies.
Climate mitigation and climate adaptation are the most material sustainability topics for the company, as confirmed by our double materiality assessment. Recognising land use change as a significant source of GHG emissions and biodiversity loss, as well as a potential source of human and land rights impacts, COFCO International is committed to sourcing commodities free of deforestation and conversion of natural ecosystems across our operations and supply chains.
We have made significant progress in implementing sustainable sourcing strategies for commodities with a higher risk of deforestation and conversion (soy, corn and palm oil). These efforts include establishing traceability, monitoring, risk assessments to identify priority geographies, supplier engagement, support to farmers and securing demand and financing for deforestation- and conversion-free commodities.
Focus on soy and corn
COFCO International is committed to achieving deforestation free soy and corn supply chains globally and conversion free soy and corn supply chains in South America by the end of 2025, in line with its SBTi validated climate targets. We prioritise the purchase of soybeans and corn with the lowest emissions intensity sourced from long established croplands and classify volumes linked to recent land use change as higher emitting.
In 2024, 99% of the soy we sourced in Brazil was verified as DCF.
Our Sustainable Soy and Corn Sourcing Policies apply to all suppliers, direct and indirect.
We will report on our 2025 progress against our Deforestation and Conversion Free commitment in our 2025 Sustainability Report to be published in 2026.
All sustainable sourcing policies
We will conduct risk assessments of other commodities, coffee, sugar and cotton to inform our strategy.
Respecting communities and strengthening accountability
Land use is closely connected to the rights of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Engaging with these stakeholders in meaningful way is therefore an important part of our work. COFCO International’s global grievance mechanism – the Integrity Hotline – provides a channel for all stakeholders throughout our business and value chain to confidentially and anonymously raise concerns relating to any violations of the company’s policies, including those related to social and environmental issues, including deforestation, conversion, impact on communities, and concerns about workers.
Addressing commodity-driven land use change is central to COFCO International’s climate strategy, which will strengthen the resilience of our business. Responsibility for meeting this commitment sits with our Executive Committee.
Case studies
Running a crop rotation programme
We are planting diverse crops within our sugar plantations to fix more nitrogen into the soil in some 70% of our plantations, while generating an additional source of income. Rotation crops include soybean, millet, crotalaria and the forage crop brachiaria ruziziensis. In 2024, we also trialled planting cotton over 250 hectares. Rotating crops improves soil carbon and retains more nitrogen, decreasing the need for fertilisers. It also enables a more integrated soil management system for the land, helping to decrease erosion, retain water, increase organic matter and therefore improve soil structure and fertility, with certain crops releasing nutrients in different ways. The rotations also interrupt pest lifecycles, helping to lower the need for pesticides.
Furthermore, increasing more plant diversity attracts a larger variety of insects, birds and animals, with bees and butterflies helping to promote pollination, ecosystem health and soil microbiota. Healthy and biodiverse soils are more resistant to droughts, floods and other extreme weather conditions, helping us to build resilience to climate change while improving sugarcane productivity and long-term plantation sustainability. Looking ahead, we aim to expand the rotations to cover more of our plantations, while also focusing on maximising the economic value of the crops we plant.
Partnering to promote pollinators
Our partnerships with local beekeepers encourage pollination, helping to boost crop productivity, and demonstrating the value of biodiversity in improving yields. Through Our Pollinate Project, we protect pollinating insects (mostly bees) on the land surrounding our sugar plantations, supporting the livelihoods of smallholder producers, including beekeepers. In particular, we protect the areas around bees’ flight paths from agricultural inputs in our sugarcane plantations. We invest in raising community awareness of the importance of conserving bees in collaboration with Instituto A.B.E.L.H.A, the Brazilian Bee Studies Association.
