Protecting our planet

Cargill promotes balanced land use and sustainable agriculture to protect forests. We are committed to using our market presence to mitigate agriculture as a driver of deforestation. We recognize that forests and farming are both critical to creating a more sustainable, food-secure future.

Our deforestation pledge:  We endorsed the New York Declaration on Forests in 2014, committing to help end deforestation across our supply chains. We pledged to reduce and eventually end deforestation across our entire agricultural supply chain, with the goal of halving it by 2020 and ending it by 2030. Learn more about our deforestation efforts (Cargill.com).

We use our insights as one of the world’s largest buyers of soy, palm oil and other crops to promote sustainable agriculture. We work with farmers, governments, environmental organizations and members of the communities in which we operate to find practical and scalable solutions. Examples of our actions and partners include:

• Palm oil – We are working toward a 100 percent transparent, traceable and sustainable palm supply chain by 2020. Our commitment includes no deforestation of high conservation value (HCV) lands or high carbon stock (HCS) areas, no development on peat, and no exploitation of rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.  Learn more about how we are advancing sustainable palm oil (Cargill.com).
• Soy – In 2006, Cargill worked with industry, government and NGO partners to put in place the Soy Moratorium in Brazil. As part of this agreement, we committed not to purchase from or offer financing to farmers who grow soy on lands in the Amazon biome that were deforested after that date. The moratorium has since been adapted to align with Brazil’s new Forest Code and extended indefinitely. Today, we are working with The Nature Conservancy to help farmers comply with the Brazilian Forest Code, enter the rural environmental registry (or CAR) and adopt sustainable practices.
  • Cargill Policy on South American Soy
  • South American Soy Action Plan
  • Cargill Commitment on Human Rights
  • Cargill Policy on Forests
• Partners – Our work with global partners to develop and implement scalable solutions to protect forests includes The Nature Conservancy, Proforest, The Forest Trust, World Resources Institute and World Wildlife Fund.

We have a proven track record of protecting forests and are proud of our progress. Yet we know we have more work to do.

Learn more (Cargill.com):

• Cargill 2017 Report on Forests
• Cargill Policy on Sustainable Fiber-based Packaging
• Cargill Cocoa and Chocolate Protect Strategic Action Plan
• Cargill Policy on Sustainable Palm Oil

We encourage measures to help agriculture adapt to a changing climate while seeking to mitigate agriculture’s environmental impact. Since 2000, we’ve been working to reduce our company’s direct climate impact. In 2015, we set new targets for 2020 to reduce greenhouse gas intensity, improve energy efficiency and increase renewables as a part of our portfolio. We are working to reduce emissions across our supply chains and increase awareness of the risk climate change poses to the business of agriculture, to farmer livelihoods and to food security in the years ahead. 

Our commitments and actions include:

• Reduce greenhouse gas intensity by 5 percent by 2020 against a fiscal 2015 baseline.
• Improve energy efficiency by 5 percent by 2020 against a fiscal 2015 baseline.
• Increase renewable energy to 18 percent of our energy portfolio. Today, 14 percent of our energy needs are met by renewables.
• American Business Act on Climate Pledge – In July 2015, Cargill joined with other U.S. businesses at the White House in Washington, D.C., to reaffirm our commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in our own operations and in our supply chains – and partnering with farmers to help agriculture adapt to a changing climate.
• Supply chain emissions – We are in the early stages of mapping supply chain emissions as a necessary next step in reducing GHGs from field to fork.
• Helping farmers adapt – We partner with farmers to help adapt to hotter, drier growing conditions and advocate for continued investment in biosciences, agronomics and best practices in sustainable agriculture to address climate change.

We believe our food system is resilient. Working together, we can help our agricultural system evolve to match our changing climate while mitigating the environmental impact.

Of the fresh water people use every year, about 70 percent goes to produce the food we eat. At Cargill, we’re taking steps to manage our water resources efficiently by conserving water, improving water quality and ensuring access to clean water in the communities where we operate.

Our actions include:

• Conserving water – We are working across our supply chains and within our own operations to conserve and improve water quality. We minimize minimizing water use, particularly in areas of stress and scarcity, and improving water quality in areas impacted by agriculture. We conduct local assessments and map our plants and supply chains to determine our long-term risk and take appropriate action. We work to improve freshwater efficiency in our facilities around the world. Our progress includes improving efficiency in our operations by 12 percent between 2005 and 2015. In 2015, we set a new target to improve by another 5 percent by 2020.
• Improving water quality through sustainable agriculture – We are improving water quality in areas impacted by agriculture. We work with farmers to optimize use of fertilizer and other inputs to maximize yields, reduce runoff and protect watersheds.
• Promoting access to clean water – We promote access to clean water in communities where we live and work. In areas where we have operations in remote or sensitive locations, we install waste water treatment technology to protect local water sources.