The largest sources of emissions within Scope 1 direct emissions from Minerva Foods’ operations originate from: Effluent Treatment Stations (ETEs) at operating units in South America; and Boilers in Colombia and Argentina, due to the fuels used. Opportunities with the potential to reduce these emissions have been identified based on decarbonization studies. These include projects to modernize effluent treatment to reduce emissions, with the potential to generate and market carbon credits in partnership with MyCarbon.
With respect to Scope 2, as previously mentioned, Minerva Foods, in partnership with the subsidiary Minerva Energia has been purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates (I-RECs) since 2020, offsetting Scope 2 emissions from its operations in all locations, with the exception of Paraguay, where emission levels are already at zero given that the local energy matrix is composed exclusively of renewable sources and does not emit GHGs in the generation of electricity.
As for scope 3 GHG emissions, arising from the value chain and for which we have indirect responsibility, in 2021 we started monitoring new sources of emissions relevant to our business: ‘1 – Goods and services purchased’ (cattle and buffaloes purchased), ‘4 – Transport and distribution – upstream’, ‘5 – Waste generated in operations’, ‘6 – Business travel’ and ‘7 – Employee commuting’. Nevertheless, the increase in the amount of emissions between 2020 and 2021 was due to the inclusion of these new sources.
In 2022, with the help of a specialized consultancy, we carried out a Scope 3 materiality study, thus creating a complete GHG management of its Value Chain. Another important alteration in the emissions inventory for the year was the improvement of the methodology for calculating enteric fermentation and management of waste from animals purchased in Brazil (scope 3), through technical studies carried out. The new methodology takes into account the age of the cattle and the period they remain in each type of creation (confinement, semi-confinement, pasture and confinement to pasture), according to emission factors from the IV Brazilian Inventory of Anthropogenic Emissions and Removals of Greenhouse Gases from the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (2020). Still within the climate agenda, in 2022, we started the project to integrate climate risks (physical and transitional) into risk management at Minerva Foods. With the hiring of a specialized consultant, climate change scenarios are being studied in line with our strategic vision in the medium and long-term time horizons (2030 and 2050), in accordance with TCFD recommendations. Preliminary results are available in the 2022 Sustainability Report.