ADAMA releases first annual Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report

ADAMA Ltd. (SZSE 000553), a leading global crop protection company, released its first annual ESG report on July 7, in conjunction with its 2020 sustainability report. The ESG report marks a new level of transparency for the company, which is constantly aiming for new standards in accountability and commitment.

Michal Arlosoroff, EVP Legal Counsel and Chief Sustainability Officer said: “In spite of the extraordinary challenges brought on by COVID-19, we at ADAMA are determined to meet our commitments to sustainability and transparency. We are proud of our achievements from this past year and look forward to continue raising our standards in our ESG journey.”

The company’s environmental and sustainability information disclosure has been expanding steadily over the last few years, and the additional information can be used by financial organizations to assess the risk and ecological impact of ADAMA’s activities.

Highlights from the 2020 ESG report

Environment

“ADAMA acknowledges the impact of climate change and endorses circular economy”, said Eran Segal, Head of Environment and Sustainability Sector. “During 2020, ADAMA made global efforts to better control greenhouse gas emissions by increasing energy efficiency and modifying its energy source mix to use lower GHG fuels and renewable sources. The company made great strides in terms of boosting the amount of waste that was reused or recycled.”

ADAMA makes continuous efforts to decrease its environmental footprint, including a sharp decrease in air emissions and water contaminant discharge.
 

• Cleaner energy use rose while energy consumption fell. ADAMA decreased its energy consumption and simultaneously shifted to low GHGs fuels and adopted renewable energy. Total energy consumption fell from 12,480 TJ to 10,966 TJ, despite a sharp increase in its manufacturing production. ADAMA reduced consumption of coal (from 6,735 to 3,753 TJ) and fuel oil (from 87 to 85 TJ) while increasing its consumption of natural gas usage (from 556 to 753 TJ).

• Waste recycling increased, with focus on plastic waste. ADAMA is committed to reducing its plastic footprint throughout the product life cycle including operating plastic recycling centers at several production sites and recycling empty plastic containers following their used by the farmers.

• Air emissions dropped sharply by >60% due to the shutdown of a coal-based power plant and substantial investment in upgrading emission control systems at ADAMA’s Chinese facilities.

• The amount of herbicides discharged dropped by 24% to 840 Kg per annum, due to the company’s continuous investment in upstream and treatment technologies.

Social

• Workplace safety: The low number of accidents and casualties bear witness to the emphasis ADAMA places on taking care of its people. Injury rate (IR) dropped from 0.56 to 0.46. Also during 2020, the company launched the regular ADAMA HSE and sustainability newsletter which covers regulatory updates, global industry case studies and more.
  

• Support for ADAMA’s people:  From the earliest days of COVID-19, the company put its people first, encouraging work-from-home wherever possible, and taking every step to keep its employees safe, including covering certain medical insurance, vaccination expenses, medical consultations and more.
  

• Diversity and inclusion: In 2020, ADAMA formed a dedicated committee to assess the company’s Diversity and Inclusion profile, form a vision and an action plan to reach its goals.
  

“ADAMA is home to a world of cultures, languages, perspectives, ideas, orientations, races and religions. We envision an open, inclusive and diverse work environment as part of our sustainable future,” Arlosoroff continued. “Our dedicated Diversity and Inclusion team is working on a full calendar of initiatives to amplify marginalized voices within our company.”  

ADAMA’s sustainability report and ESG report, audited by KPMG, is available here.