48 / 266
48 2014 Registration Document
Social responsibility
2
Action plans
◗
Promoting sustainable sourcing of soya
Carrefour gives priority to responsible plant proteins. Plant proteins
(legumes including soya, cereals, oilseeds, etc.) are used in animal feed
for breeding purposes. With little production currently in Europe, soya
is frequently imported from Brazil, where it is a cause of deforestation.
Most of the production also comes from GMO crops.
Carrefour supports the cultivation of GMO-free soya and takes part in
developing lower impact product lines, using a multiphase approach:
■
develop responsible GMO-free soya production: the Group is a
member of the
Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS)
, supporting
the soya moratorium. Launched in 2006, this international organisation
brings together soya producers, industry representatives, mass retailers
and NGOs. Since 2006, Carrefour supported the soya moratorium
in the Amazon. This initiative, taken by industry professionals in
coordination with Brazilian authorities and civil society, is designed
to combat the deforestation of the Amazon for soya cultivation. In
2014, Carrefour Brazil participated in the
Soy Working Group
tasked
with renegotiating the soya moratorium. After lengthy negotiations with
soya producer organisations and NGOs, the moratorium commitments
were extended until May 2016;
■
Carrefour uses geographic traceability and the Pro Terra standard
(1)
to track the absence of deforestation for its supplies of soya for the
“fed without GMOs” CQL and other Carrefour brand products;
■
Using this approach, in 2013 Carrefour launched 100% French eggs
from laying hens reared on GMO-free feed grown exclusively in France.
◗
Promoting deforestation-free beef
In some parts of the world, including the Amazon, some breeding practices
lead to significant deforestation. Carrefour is mindful of this issue and is
taking the necessary steps to break the link between beef production
and deforestation.
For example, in 2013 Carrefour Brazil was the first retailer to launch
beef products certified by the Rainforest Alliance NGO. The certification
covers the entire beef production chain, including farms, slaughterhouses
and retailers. Criteria include sustainable agriculture, methane gas
emission set-offs, respect for workers’ rights and well-being, protection of
ecosystems and water conservation. It also involves complete traceability
of products
via
the Internet and systematic food safety inspections
throughout the chain.
Since 2009, Carrefour Brazil has participated in the Working Group
on Sustainable Beef (
Grupo de Trabalho da Pecuaria Sustentavel –
GTPS
), which aims to create a responsible beef supply chain. In 2014,
one of the largest beef producer became part of the Carrefour Quality
Line initiative, thereby ensuring responsible production throughout the
country for a full year.
◗
Ensuring the origin of wood and paper and
promoting labels (FSC, PEFC)
◗
Reducing the footprint of the paper and wood supply
chain on forest ecosystems
To control its supplies of wood and wood products, Carrefour has made a
commitment to sustainable forest management. Under theWood Charter,
the European purchasing office’s suppliers that use wood, pulp, paper
and derivatives have made a commitment to ensure:
■
the legality of their supplies;
■
respect for local populations;
■
no sourcing from high conservation value (HCV) forests;
■
that supplies are not sourced from species included on the IUCN
(International Union for Conservation of Nature) red list of threatened
species or species protected under the CITES (Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).
Carrefour also appended the Wood Charter to all contracts signed by
suppliers, those of the European purchasing office’s, of products that
contain wood fibres. All suppliers that manufacture products made of
wood and wood derivatives have received the Wood Charter. In 2014,
100% of the garden furniture made of tropical wood sold by the Group
was certified or in the process of being certified.
For the non-food sector, the Wood Charter includes a questionnaire
that helps us to work with suppliers in examining how to improve their
sourcing to comply with the charter (species, production areas, etc.). In
compliance with current regulations, Carrefour has also strengthened
its decision-making and control system by broadening its risk analysis
by species and by supply area, and by specifying criteria to apply when
evaluating suppliers.
In an effort to continuously improve, Carrefour always strives to enhance
the expertise of its teams, training them in local regulatory issues,
risk analysis, standards and supplier evaluation. The Group has also
collaborated with WWF France and the WWF’s GFTN
(2)
(Global Forest
Trade Network) to develop a supplier training programme.
The Group continues to promote stationery and personal hygiene products
(paper tissues, wipes etc.) and packaging made from FSC, PEFC and
recycled materials.
◗
Commercial publications and consumption
of office paper not from deforestation
Since 2005, the Carrefour group has taken a comprehensive approach
to its commercial publications in line with its commitment to sustainable
procurement. For example, since 2012 nearly 100% of the paper used
Group-wide for its commercial publications has been recycled or certified.
At the same time, Carrefour has limited the quantity of paper used for
its publications by reducing paper weights, going digital and optimising
distribution. Carrefour also works with printers to reduce the impact of
its commercial publications.
(1) Certification standard for supply chains producers and suppliers of non-GM soybeans, developed in 2006 by Cert ID, to make a significant
contribution to improving the sustainability of the soy supply chain.
(2) GFTN France is a discussion forum that brings together loggers and wood purchasers around the world that are committed to responsible
operations.