Bel : aims to make carbon reduction a driver of its performance and aligns itself with an ambitious climate trajectory of +1.5°C

The Bel Group has announced today that it is strengthening its carbon reduction target to help limit global warming to below +1.5°C[1]. This particularly ambitious commitment for a mainly dairy company will involve a net reduction of one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions throughout Bel's entire value chain by 2035[2], and the integration of carbon tracking as a tool for steering its activities.

Committed to a profitable and responsible business model, the Group is thus entering a new stage in its transformation where carbon reduction is a driver of its financial and extra-financial performance.

In 2017, the Bel Group joined the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi), thus demonstrating its will to act to help achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement and keep global warming below +2°C. To this end, the Group had defined clear objectives and initiated its initial actions on its own area of responsibility: its industrial capacity. Thanks to the efforts made, the Group has set itself the goal of achieving carbon neutrality in its plants by 2025, marking a first definite step in its action.

For many years, Bel has been working to reduce its carbon footprint throughout its value chain and is working hand in hand with its dairy farmers to develop more sustainable farming practices. In recent months, the Group has announced the launch in 2022 of two new initiatives:

• A new premium of €5/1000L in France for the Group's 750 APBO partner farmers, guaranteeing 100% European cow feed from October 2022,
• A pilot program on cow feed aiming to reduce methane emissions from herds, starting in spring 2022 in France and Slovakia and conducted in collaboration with the company DSM.

Today, faced with the alarming findings of the IPCC, the Group is accelerating and redefining its ambition to limit global warming. It thus intends to become an exemplary player in its sector by acting with all its stakeholders.