Climate Change Data

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Optimising farm production
• Optimising production processes
• Investing in staff skills and a safe working environment
• Respecting the interests of other stakeholders

Environmental Achievements

• CO2 emission in 2018 was slightly lower at 0.22 tonne of CO2 per tonne of product (2017: 0.23 tonne of CO2 per tonne of product)
• The volume of organic residues was lower in 2018 than in the previous year
• The volume of other waste was also lower than in 2017, continuing the downward trend in waste flows

Social Achievements

• Number of lost time incidents has declined in recent years. In 2018 there were 17 such incidents per 1,000 FTEs, down from 19 in 2017
• The rate of sickness absence was unchanged at 4.2% and remained below the industry average
• Cosun offered more than 170 young people (2017: 140) a work placement or graduation project in the Netherlands in 2018

Governance Achievements

• Cosun has introduced a code of conduct under the name Cosun Principles for directors, managers and staff
• Sensus, Suiker Unie and SVZ are members of Sedex, and Aviko and Suiker Unie are members of the RSPO

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Low sugar prices on the international market
• Extreme weather conditions (drought) affecting raw material availability and yield
• Brexit uncertainty
• Increased pressure on margins in some business groups

Mitigation Strategies

• Stricter cost control and judicious investments
• Diversification of activities across several raw materials and sales markets
• Preparation for various Brexit scenarios
• Focus on cost-efficient production and long-term price and volume agreements
• Investments in efficiency measures and innovation

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement

• Contractual agreements with growers for raw materials

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Extreme weather conditions (drought)

Transition Risks

• Government measures related to the Paris Climate Agreement

Opportunities

• Development of sustainable energy sources

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Green gas
• Bio-ethanol
• Betafib (from sugar beet pulp)

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Sustainable agriculture
• Minimising raw material use and protecting the environment
• Investing in staff skills and a safe working environment
• Respecting the interests of other stakeholders and being accountable to them

Environmental Achievements

• CO2 emission of 0.22 tonne per tonne of product (same as 2018)
• Water consumption of 2.4 m3 per tonne of product (slightly higher than 2018)
• Residual matter of 0.07 tonne per tonne of product (slightly higher than 2018)
• Vierverlaten factory stopped drying pressed pulp, significantly cutting energy consumption
• Dinteloord factory invested in ammonia reduction

Social Achievements

• Members’ bonus increased to EUR 39 million (2018: EUR 14 million)
• Number of lost time incidents decreased in recent years but increased again in 2019 (from 17 to 22 per 1,000 FTEs)
• Sickness absence rate slightly higher at 4.5% but still below the industry average
• Offered 149 young people work placements or graduation projects
• Introduced a code of conduct under the name Cosun Principles

Governance Achievements

• Renewed the EUR 400 million Revolving Credit Facility (RCF) for a term of five years
• Introduced a whistleblower scheme and the Cosun Speak Up line
• Extended the contract with EY for two years to audit the annual accounts for 2019 and 2020

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Poorly thought-out government measures banning certain crop protection agents
• Restrictions on the use of soil and land contaminated with PFAS
• Disappointing harvests in 2018 and 2019
• Low sugar prices in 2019
• Increased competition and pressure on margins
• Lower yields in 2019 due to the ban of neonicotinoid insecticides
• Brexit
• Coronavirus outbreak

Mitigation Strategies

• Business groups’ farming services and the IRS are helping growers deal with problems and researching new growing techniques
• Aviko responded alertly to the poor potato harvest in 2018 by contracting sufficient stocks for 2019
• Suiker Unie successfully concluded better contracts for 2020
• Sensus invested in a roadmap to cut its carbon footprint
• SVZ is working with its customers to develop new concepts and products
• Duynie Group has taken many innovative initiatives and drawn up an ambitious growth agenda
• Cosun has carried out an internal risk analysis of the coronavirus’s impact
• Cosun will pay unstinting attention to the consequences of the coronavirus for its business and its people in 2020

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: Not disclosed

Responsible Procurement

• Crop registration programmes

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Influence of the weather on availability and quality of raw materials

Transition Risks

• Government measures (e.g. Paris Climate Agreement)
• Energy transition

Opportunities

• Further development of the biobased economy

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: Null

Certifications: ISO 27001 (IT shared service centre)

Third-party Assurance: Not disclosed

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Not disclosed

Not disclosed

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Rubisco protein from sugar beet foliage
• Betafib (micro-cellulose fibres from sugar beet pulp)

Awards & Recognition

• TPM Consistency Award (Sensus)

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Climate change mitigation
• Health-promoting and green alternatives
• Safe & healthy workspace
• Circular crop use
• People development & attraction
• Water management
• Crop protection
• Regenerative agriculture
• Diversity, equality & inclusion
• Community building
• Product transparency & traceability
• Business integrity, transparency & compliance
• Food supply & fair pricing
• Fair labour practices
• Operational waste management

Environmental Achievements

• Reduction of scope 1 and scope 2 CO2 emissions by 13% relative to 2018
• Accelerated transition to green electricity in all EU factories
• Total production of 23 million m3 of green gas in the Netherlands in 2023
• Heat pump at Aviko Rixona-Warffum saved more than 1,100 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually
• Cosun Beet Company’s Puttershoek Solar Park will provide a reduction of over 8,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually
• Installation of an electric boiler at the Aviko Rixona factory in Venray
• Project to reduce CO2 emissions at the Vierverlaten sugar factory by as much as 40%

Social Achievements

• Improved employee engagement score of 7.7
• Launched several initiatives focused on diversity, equality and inclusion
• Teamed up with several civil society organisations (JINC, Enactus, food bank)
• Introduced a continuous feedback and coaching process

Governance Achievements

• Double materiality assessment conducted in line with CSRD requirements
• Divestments of SVZ, Aviko Cuijk and Aviko Norden to focus on core areas
• Improved underlying revenue model resulting in a beet price of EUR 78.00 per tonne

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Fall of the cabinet and failure in forming an agricultural agreement
• Rising geopolitical tensions and tough harvesting conditions
• Prolonged period of rain preventing growers from harvesting all crops
• Frost damage to sugar beet
• High inflation and economic uncertainty impacting demand for high-quality ingredients
• Cost increases in cultivation
• Grid congestion preventing implementation of heat pump projects
• Increasing pressure in terms of water quality and rules under the CAP
• More stringent laws and regulations around nitrate reduction and nitrogen use

Mitigation Strategies

• Introduced a frost-damage scheme
• Implemented a performance improvement programme (EUR 30 million structural improvement)
• Price increases to compensate for cost increases
• Exploring new markets for green and health-promoting products
• Monitoring and optimising work processes using Total Productive Maintenance 2.0
• Improving procurement processes
• Optimising working capital
• Participation in a cluster 6 pilot project to address grid congestion
• Groeikracht Cosun programme for sustainable cultivation
• SCO2RE+ programme for CO2 reduction
• Investing in new production lines in Poland and China
• Collaboration with Heineken and Wageningen University & Research to extract proteins from spent grain

Supply Chain Management

Responsible Procurement

• Purchasing green energy and Guarantees of Origin
• Requesting suppliers to provide information required for scope 3 emissions reduction

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Extreme weather conditions (droughts, flooding)

Transition Risks

• Government measures (e.g., Paris Climate Agreement)
• Increased regulation
• Higher energy taxes

Opportunities

• Development of energy-efficient products
• Growth in biobased products

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: CSRD

Certifications: ISO 27001 (IT shared service centre)

Third-party Assurance: EY

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Tendra® plant-based protein
• Protein and fibre ingredients from brewer’s yeast