Feronia Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC)
Climate Impact & Sustainability Data (2014-2015)
Reporting Period: 2014-2015
Environmental Metrics
ESG Focus Areas
- Environmental
- Social
- Governance
Environmental Achievements
- Achieving Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification in 2017 (planned)
- Implementing an environmental and social action plan (ESAP)
- Commissioning environmental and social studies, including a High Conservation Value (HCV) assessment
- Replanting 16,633 ha of oil palms
- Reconditioning two palm oil mills and building a new mill
Social Achievements
- Securing long-term jobs for over 3,500 employees
- Implementing a programme of repairing and rebuilding social infrastructure (roads, sanitation, boreholes, housing, schools, hospitals, and clinics)
- Developing a stakeholder engagement plan (SEP)
- Developing a community development plan (CDP)
Governance Achievements
- Establishing an ESG Board Committee that convenes quarterly to monitor ESAP progress and ESG matters
- Developing in-house policies aligned with international good practice (Anti-bribery and Corruption Policy; Anti-Corruption Statement; Environmental and Social Policy; External Grievance Procedure; Occupational Health and Safety Policy; Statement of Human Resources Policy; and Whistleblowing Policy)
Climate Goals & Targets
Long-term Goals:
- Achieving RSPO certification
- Continuous improvement in environmental and social performance
Medium-term Goals:
- Refurbishing the mills
- Increasing plantation productivity
- Upgrading buildings
- Improving/building infrastructure
- Implementing effective stakeholder engagement
Short-term Goals:
- Re-establish business operations to a profitable and sustainable level
- Securing jobs for the existing workforce and employment opportunities within the wider communities
- Implementing an ESAP
- Replanting specific areas of the plantations
Environmental Challenges
- Legacy issues from previous ownership and civil instability (poorly maintained housing, degraded roads, dilapidated healthcare facilities, inadequate schooling, over-reliance on ecosystem services, poor communication between communities and the company)
- Worker strikes (due to dissatisfaction regarding housing, wages, and engagement)
- Ageing workforce
- Community reliance on the company for basic social infrastructure
- Resentment towards workers from non-worker communities
- Large, uneducated workforce
- Influx of people to the area (increased pressure on services and resources, social pathologies, conflict)
- Health and safety risks (vehicle accidents, disease)
- Impact on opportunistic agriculture
- Economic dependence on Feronia PHC
Mitigation Strategies
- Rehabilitation programme of workers’ houses
- Road maintenance programme
- Hospital refurbishment programme and provision of new equipment
- Developing a CDP
- Developing a SEP
- Education programme to improve agricultural practices
- Reinstatement of boreholes
- Succession planning
- Community development initiatives
- Implementing recommended enhancement measures
- Engaging local authorities
- Implementing awareness campaigns
- Providing adequate PPE
- Implementing an emergency response plan
- Adequate warning to households about replanting
- Facilitating visits to areas to demonstrate their status as old plantations
Supply Chain Management
Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities
Reporting Standards
Frameworks Used: RSPO, IFC Performance Standards, World Bank Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) guidelines