Agriculture and climate change

We recognize the challenges climate change poses for agriculture – and the contribution we can make to tackle it. A changing climate affects growing seasons, water availability, pests, and crop productivity – hindering farmers’ ability to produce better and more abundant food for a growing population. It also impacts our own operations, through altered weather patterns and water availability.

The 2015 Paris Agreement builds on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), bringing nations together in efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and adapt to a changing climate. While agriculture is not formally part of the agreement, the parties agree on the strategic role it plays in mitigating and adapting to climate change. In this spirit, we’ve committed to Strive for carbon neutral agriculture as part of our Good Growth Plan.

We report on our actions, performance as well as on climate risk and opportunities (as per TCFD recommendations) in our ESG Report and through our CDP submissions.

Download our latest climate change submission to CDP 

Helping farmers become more resilient

We’re making a positive contribution to tackling climate change by helping farmers mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a changing climate. We invest in the research and development of products, disseminate agricultural practices, and provide technologies that strengthen agriculture against both the causes and the effects of climate change.

At the farm, we encourage growers to adopt climate-smart practices that help them to optimize inputs, reduce soil-based carbon emissions, and build crop resilience to changing weather patterns. Practices such as minimum tillage, crop rotation, and effective nutrient management combined with permanent crop cover strategies, could turn agricultural fields into carbon sinks, helping to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. We work with our customers, growers large and small, as well as other stakeholders in the food chain to transfer knowledge and achieve results on the ground.

Reducing emissions in our own operations

As part of our commitment to Strive for carbon neutral agriculture, we also aim to reduce the carbon intensity of our operations by at least 50% by 2030. To do so, we are focusing on improving the efficiency of our manufacturing processes, implementing site-based energy-saving programs and increasing the share of renewable sources of energy.

Find out more about sustainable operations

Helping suppliers manage emissions

Our supply chain accounts for about 90% of our carbon footprint. To achieve our 2030 carbon intensity reduction target, we are partnering with our crop protection and seed suppliers to reduce their carbon footprint. Due to the large number of suppliers, we cannot directly engage with and influence all of them. Our strategy is to identify those with the biggest impact and engage directly to understand their actual impact and carbon reduction strategies.

For our chemical supply chain, we are engaging with our most important supply chain partners to request information on carbon targets and measures, and to obtain data on product-, site- or corporate-level carbon footprints. We also engage and request carbon data from our logistic providers. We require key fourth-party logistics (4PL) partners to measure and report to us monthly the carbon footprint associated with our business following the Global Logistics Emission Council (GLEC) methodology.

For our seed supply chain, requirements on the use of good agricultural practices are part of our regular engagement with growers, including introducing training on practices such as water management. We continue to expand implementation of water management technologies and also increase the production area utilizing soil health practices (e.g. cover crops, no/minimum till) that contribute to reducing soil-based carbon emissions.

Partnering to tackle climate change

Collaboration is at the heart of what we do. Our ambition is to support a step change in collaboration among governments, NGOs, business, financial and donor institutions, schools, and universities. We work with leading global organizations to bring our voice to relevant arenas on sustainable agriculture and climate change.