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.

THE LIVELIHOODS CARBON FUND #3

Since June 2021, we’ve been part of the third Livelihoods Carbon Fund (LCF3), alongside 13 other companies and financial investors. Its mission is to support rural communities in restoring their natural ecosystems and improving their livelihoods through sustainable agricultural practices such as agroforestry. This collective initiative aims to sequester or avoid 30 million tons of CO₂ equivalent over 20 years.

AFRICAN PARKS

NATURE IMPACT

As part of our partnership with WWF France, we joined the Nature Impact initiative launched in spring 2023. This project combines biodiversity conservation with carbon sequestration and represents the first fund dedicated to forest preservation based on the Payment for Environmental Services (PES) model. The aim is to provide financial support to willing forest owners for the conservation, sustainable management, and restoration of forests. Objective: to help store 400,000 additional tonnes of carbon sustainably over 30 years.

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 entered into contractual agreements with several forestry stakeholders capable of implementing these sustainable practices. As part of this commitment, a first agreement was signed with the forestry cooperative Alliance Forêt Bois to support projects focused on restoring degraded forests, managing forest stands more sustainably, protecting old-growth forests, and restoring wetlands. These projects aim to enhance carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and overall ecosystem functioning.

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.

THE REHABILITATION OF THE JURA PEATLANDS

We are extremely proud to be among the first private-sector players to take action on the critical challenge of peatland rehabilitation, particularly in the Jura region, the birthplace of the Bel Group. To do so, we have partnered with the Conservatoire des Espaces Naturels de Franche-Comté, as well as the Public Water Management Authorities of Haut-Doubs Haute-Loue and Doubs-Dessoubre.

This pioneering partnership aims to accelerate the rehabilitation and preservation of over 40 peatlands across the Jura massif. The area is home to 495 peatlands spanning 5,321 hectares, a significant portion of which is in need of rehabilitation.