6.1)   By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all

Cargill promotes access to clean water in communities where we live and work.

For example, with the help of a partner organization called Isla Urbana, Cargill employees installed 155 rainwater collection systems in and Mexico, 143 in houses and 12 in schools. Each system collects rainwater from rooftops, purifies the water, stores it and connects to indoor plumbing. This also helps prevent flooding in the city. These projects were completed by 11 work brigades, with 196 Cargill volunteers donating almost 1600 hours and benefiting more than 3,000 people since 2015. Cargill has donated more than $211,000 for implementation of the project, which is an important part of the company's corporate responsibility strategy in support of local communities.

Cargill launched an initiative in 2017 in Indonesia working with CARE to ensure access to sanitation and safe drinking water facilities for 6000 elementary students, 300 teachers and 1,200 parents in two provinces.

6.4)  By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity

Water is one of Cargill’s four focus areas of sustainability. It is important to Cargill and the communities we serve to use water responsibly and preserve resources for future generations. Cargill first assessed water scarcity in 2007 to support the freshwater efficiency target set in 2005. We improved efficiency by 12 percent between 2005 and 2015. In 2015, we set a new target to improve by another 5 percent by 2020. We achieved a 2.9 percent improvement in fiscal year 2017 and are working toward continuous improvement.

For example, Cargill has deployed water reuse systems at many locations around the world, ranging from simple leak tag programs to more advanced treatment systems. Some of these include construction of a new zero discharge wet corn mill in India that incorporates advanced treatment systems to recycle all waste water generated and reuse it within the plant for cooling water and irrigation requirements at site.

Additionally, in order to leverage our expertise through partnerships, we are working with World Resources Institute and other partners through the Aqueduct Alliance to provide data-driven, high-resolution global maps of water risk, including operational and supply chain risks such as droughts, floods and water supply variability.

9.5)   Enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries, in particular developing countries, including, by 2030, encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of research and development workers per 1 million people and public and private research and development spending

Cargill is investing in infrastructure and innovation across the global food system.  In 2016, the company invested more than $40 million in launching three research and development facilities in North America, China and Chile.  Combined with the insights of more than 1,300 food scientists, Cargill is building the capacity to ensure a more resilient food system. More information is available at Cargill stories and Cargill sustainability. 

12.3)   By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels, and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses

Cargill is committed to addressing food loss and waste to ensure global food security and a sustainable future. We are well-positioned to make a real impact on this complex issue given our global supply chain from farm to fork and our relevant technical expertise.

For example, we work with national food banks in 18 countries to address hunger, food waste, food safety and other issues. We also participate in the Food Reform for Sustainability and Health (FReSH) initiative, led by EAT and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, which brings businesses together to drive progress across the value chain.

We are working with World Resources Institute to create and deploy an accounting system toolkit to reduce food loss and waste by setting reduction targets, creating measurement and reporting processes, and creating internal and external awareness.

14.4)   By 2020, effectively regulate harvesting, and end overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and destructive fishing practices and implement science-based management plans, in order to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible, at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield as determined by their biological characteristics

With the release in 2019 of the latest Cargill Aqua Nutrition Sustainability report, Cargill shows measurable progress in its aqua nutrition business. Prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, the report captures important performance measures on environmental and social indicators. Based on a value chain approach, it broadens the perspective of sustainability beyond the direct impact of our operations and into wider societal impacts. As a major feed producer and contributor to food production, Cargill Aqua Nutrition is positioned to positively impact several of the SDGs, and has aligned its sustainability management and reporting to these goals. For 2019’s report, the business chose to highlight the SDGs that mirror its material sustainability topics, focusing on goals 2, 3, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14 and 17. More information is available at Cargill stories and Cargill sustainability. 

15.2)   By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests, and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally

Cargill has pledged to eliminate deforestation across our entire agricultural supply chain, halving it by 2020 and ending it completely by 2030. In 2014 Cargill endorsed the New York Declaration on Forests, and in 2015 we issued a global Policy on Forests, and we are diligently working across our supply chain to meet our goal.

For example, in palm oil, we are on track to a fully traceable, transparent and sustainable supply chain by 2020. Today, 94 percent of our supply is traceable to the mill; and 42 percent is traceable to the plantation. In cocoa, 45 percent of our supply is third-party certified and we are working with growers to increase sustainable practices through our Cargill Cocoa Promise and now the Cocoa & Forests Initiative, of which we are a member.

We launched a new partnership with World Resources Institute’s Global Forest Watch in 2016 to map nearly 2,000 Cargill sourcing areas for cocoa, palm and soy across 14 countries to establish a baseline for tree cover loss as of 2014 that we can use to help measure and track our progress against our implementation plans.

For more information, see Cargill’s 2020 Annual CFI Progress Report.

17.17)   Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships

Cargill has worked with the World Food Program USA (WFP USA) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) globally since 2001, providing more than $12 million in support to improve the health and nutrition of people in need in Africa, Central and South America and Asia. In addition to supporting famine response in 2012 and 2017, Cargill is working to advance long-term food and nutrition security.  In 2016, Cargill announced a new two-year, $1 million effort to support WFP’s Homegrown School Meals Program in Honduras, Indonesia and Kenya. This new initiative will work with schools and local governments to improve the school meal nutrition and connect local farmers to the supply chains. More information is available at Cargill stories and Cargill sustainability. 

Cargill recognizes the complex social, economic and environmental issues facing our world. Due to the complexity of these issues, we form partnerships to provide meaningful impact in our communities and across our supply chains. We contribute our knowledge, skills, financial and technical support to our partnerships and believe our contributions can help deliver long-term solutions. That’s why our partnerships are focused primarily to help us advance our priorities of nourishing our world, protecting our planet and enriching our communities. We typically identify partner organizations that align with our business interests, solve real and underlying problems, engage our employees, provide opportunities to collaborate with customers and other stakeholders, and allow us to make a distinct contribution to help create solutions. In fiscal year 2019, we granted $61.3 million in total charitable contributions provided across 56 countries. For more information, visit Cargill’s 2019 annual report.