our commitments
CONTRIBUTING TO CARBON NEUTRALITY
In February 2022, we announced our ambition to help limit global warming to below +1.5°C by reducing our net greenhouse gas emissions by one quarter between 2017 and 2035 across our entire value chain. At the same time, we joined the United Nations’ Race to Zero initiative, aiming to reach a level of so-called "unavoidable" residual emissions and contribute to carbon neutrality—starting with our production sites by 2025, and extending to our entire value chain by 2050 at the latest.
SUPPORTING PROJECTS WITH POSITIVE IMPACT
We support projects that deliver multiple positive impacts—ranging from carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation to water resource preservation, local economic value creation, and social development across various regions. To ensure transparency and credibility, these initiatives are certified and carried out in collaboration with expert partners, including NGOs, forestry cooperatives, and nature conservation organizations.
A CHARTER FOR SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY PRACTICES
- Principle 1: Preserve natural elements such as living trees, legacy stands, and open areas to promote forest stand diversification.
- Principle 2: Diversify forest stand composition through thinning or enrichment using native species, while gradually converting coppices into high forest to enhance structural diversity.
- Principle 3: Apply uneven-aged, continuous-cover forestry; manage young stands through thinning; and commit to mixed continuous-cover forestry to promote stand diversification and resilience.
Bel has progressively implemented three on-the-ground forestry programs since 2022, in partnership with the Alliance Forêt Bois cooperative. These initial collaborations represented a key learning phase, allowing our teams to deepen their understanding of biodiversity challenges. During this period, with support from Canopée and WWF France, we also structured and drafted our Sustainable Forestry Charter by the end of 2024 to set out the main principles guiding Bel-supported projects in favor of biodiversity (charter link).
To ensure the proper application of this Sustainable Forestry Charter, an external audit was conducted at the end of 2025. This audit highlighted significant non-compliance with the level of requirements set in our Charter.
As a result, Bel Group has decided not to renew any forestry projects with Alliance Forêt Bois. The Sustainable Forestry Charter is now our foundation for selecting any new forestry projects and for ensuring the implementation of forestry practices that fully benefit biodiversity.
PEATLANDS: A BIODIVERSITY TREASURE AND A KEY TO CARBON SEQUESTRATION
As part of its carbon sequestration strategy, Bel Group has turned its attention to a unique ecosystem that brings together key challenges in biodiversity preservation, water resource protection, and carbon storage: peatlands. Although they cover only 3% of the Earth’s land surface, peatlands hold about one-third of the world’s soil carbon—and store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests combined. Yet peatlands are under serious threat. Their degradation is responsible for 5 to 10% of annual global anthropogenic CO₂ emissions released into the atmosphere each year.
- Due to the lack of oxygen in these constantly waterlogged environments, the carbon captured during photosynthesis isn’t released into the atmosphere—it’s stored in the soil as peat.
- Peatlands filter and store water, providing clean water and helping prevent floods.
- They also provide a rich habitat for mosses, insects, amphibians, reptiles, flowering plants, fungi, birds, butterflies, and more.
