About Us
Our Businesses
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Media
About Us
Our Businesses
Investors
Responsibility
Media
British Sugar engineers inspecting an evaporator at our factory in Wissington, UK.
ABF Sugar focuses on keeping its people safe, reducing its carbon footprint, and managing water and natural resources responsibly. ABF Sugar adopts farming practices and supply chain management strategies that aim to have a positive environmental and social impact. ABF Sugar also focuses on maximising the efficient use of raw materials, like sugar beet and sugar cane, as well as educating consumers on sugar and health.
In 2018, ABF Sugar launched its 2030 commitments in a sustainability framework, ‘Global Mind, Local Champions’, which categorises its environmental and social focus areas under three pillars: supporting rural economies, thriving and healthy communities, and consuming resources responsibly.
The division is also committed to reducing its carbon emissions and in January 2024, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) validated its near-term and net zero emissions targets. Businesses within ABF Sugar are now updating their decarbonisation plans to align with these targets.
The 2030 commitments have played a key role in driving the division’s sustainability agenda over the last five years. As ABF Sugar looks ahead, it has established a new five-year strategic plan that will shift the focus from ABF Sugar-wide targets to business-level strategies and targets, tailored to the specific risks and priorities of each business. For carbon emissions reduction, each business's target contributes to ABF Sugar-wide science-based targets.
ABF Sugar is working towards a more comprehensive governance framework that integrates social and environmental issues into its decision-making processes. The Senior Executive Team has oversight of and responsibility for ESG risks and opportunities that are material to the division.
Managing directors of each business are responsible for setting strategies and action plans based on their material risks, local regulatory requirements and customer expectations. Where a divisional approach is needed, such as for reducing GHG emissions, ABF Sugar sets divisional-level targets and develops frameworks and guidance to support its businesses in achieving these goals.
In 2023/24, ABF Sugar developed a dashboard to internally monitor and report progress on ESG priorities, such as GHG emissions reduction. It also assisted its Spanish business, Azucarera, to conduct a preliminary double materiality assessment to enable future reporting under the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
