BUNGE LIMITED | Adopt supply chain deforestation policy at Bunge Limited

Status
98.88% votes in favour
AGM date
Previous AGM date
Proposal number
5
Resolution details
Company ticker
BG
Lead filer
Green Century Capital Management, Inc.
Resolution ask
Report on or disclose
ESG theme
  • Environment
ESG sub-theme
  • Land use inc. deforestation
Type of vote
Shareholder proposal
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Consumer Staples
Company HQ country
United States
Resolved clause
Shareholders request Bunge issue a report assessing if and how it could increase the scale, pace, and rigor of its efforts to eliminate native vegetation conversion in its soy supply chain.
Whereas clause
Soy production is a leading driver of native vegetation conversion (NVC), including deforestation, in Brazil's Amazon and Cerrado regions. Converting native ecosystems to commodity agriculture drives systemic risks, like climate change and biodiversity loss, and undermines ecosystem benefits critical to agriculture, including soil protection, pollination, and precipitation patterns.

Bunge was linked to at least 48,725 hectares of absolute deforestation risk[i] since 2015 and to 16,942 fire alerts in 2020. According to Trase Financial, Bunge's absolute deforestation risk was 51 percent higher than any other trader in 2018.

Bunge's most significant reduction in deforestation exposure occurred after it joined the Soy Moratorium, an industry-wide agreement to stop buying soy grown on recently cleared land in the Brazilian Amazon. Yet Bunge has retreated from a similar multistakeholder agreement in the Cerrado, the biome adjacent to the Amazon, even though the vast majority of Bunge's absolute deforestation risk -- 95 percent -- is concentrated in the Cerrado.

Continued exposure may expose Bunge to material financial risks, including: Supply chain volatility: 43.6 percent of Bunge's Brazil trade volume comes from Cerrado, where large-scale conversion already disrupts weather patterns resulting in higher crop failure; Constrained access to capital: 4 of Bunge's 10 largest US and EU creditors have committed to help achieve zero net deforestation through their financing of soft commodity supply chains; Regulation: existing due diligence laws and developing EU legislation on NVC may limit Bunge's ability to sell Brazilian soy to one of its largest export markets, and may further constrain European banks from lending to companies linked to NVC; Market access loss: this year, 160 corporations and investors, including Bunge's customers and investors, petitioned Bunge to end native vegetation loss in the Cerrado after three years of soy industry inaction on multistakeholder initiatives; Shortcomings in Bunge's policies contribute to continued NVC exposure.

In contrast to industry best practices, Bunge: has not committed to eliminate the conversion of native vegetation (beyond forests) in its soy supply chains; has not committed to stop sourcing soy from land cleared after 2020 in the Cerrado (in contrast to competitors SLC Agricola, CJ Selecta, and Caramuru); lacks timely supplier engagement plans in its non-compliance protocol; has retreated from a multistakeholder agreement in the Cerrado.

[i] In the Proponent's opinion, this data also refers to native vegetation conversion risk.
Supporting statement
Proponents defer to management's discretion, but recommend assessment of the relative benefits and drawbacks of integrating the following: Commitment to eliminate the conversion of all native vegetation in soy supply chains; Cutoff dates in supply chains that perpetuate native vegetation conversion; Participation in industry sourcing agreements seeking to curtail native vegetation conversion in the Cerrado; Improved supplier management efforts, including engagement on supplier non-compliance, disclosing suspension criteria, and increased use third-party monitoring and verification.

How other organisations have declared their voting intentions

Organisation name Declared voting intentions Rationale
KBI Global Investors For
Universities Superannuation Scheme - USS For USS would support additional information on the Company's efforts to eliminate native vegetation conversion in its soy supply chain
Brandywine Global Investment Management, LLC For

DISCLAIMER: By including a shareholder resolution or management proposal in this database, neither the PRI nor the sponsor of the resolution or proposal is seeking authority to act as proxy for any shareholder; shareholders should vote their proxies in accordance with their own policies and requirements.

Any voting recommendations set forth in the descriptions of the resolutions and management proposals included in this database are made by the sponsors of those resolutions and proposals, and do not represent the views of the PRI.

Information on the shareholder resolutions, management proposals and votes in this database have been obtained from sources that are believed to be reliable, but the PRI does not represent that it is accurate, complete, or up-to-date, including information relating to resolutions and management proposals, other signatories’ vote pre-declarations (including voting rationales), or the current status of a resolution or proposal. You should consult companies’ proxy statements for complete information on all matters to be voted on at a meeting.