Commitments to Renewing Life
For planet
Taking care of the water
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18.6 %
Ensuring the renewal cycle of water is essential for life on the planet and for our production process. Eucalyptus and native forests play a crucial role in this cycle. Our forests cover more than 2 million hectares in Brazil, and some territories are subject to water shortages due to natural characteristics. The effort to take care of this resource is everyone's responsibility.
We mapped all the watersheds in which Suzano operates and selected three main criteria for classifying critical watersheds: historical hydrological monitoring data, complaints from communities in the region, and the relevance of the company's occupation. We selected 44 critical watersheds¹ and carried out a diagnosis for each watershed, with technical recommendations for management actions that directly impact the water balance. Among the main ones, we would highlight the demobilization that provides for the closure of Suzano's operations in some areas, the application of an age mosaic to reduce the pressure of water demand, and the reduction of planting density, which reduces the number of trees in the same area. In this way, the company has committed to anticipating and applying local mitigating and/or transforming measures to prevent water restriction events.
Informations
ScopeImplementation of forest management recommendations in Suzano's plantation areas, with the aim of increasing water availability in the 44 watersheds classified as critical. Our operations are located in 88,400 hectares of this area.
Implement forest stewardship actions² aimed at increasing water availability in the basins mapped as critical by 2030
In 2024, we made significant progress in achieving the Commitment, with 53% more than expected for the year. This amounted to a total of 8,757 hectares, with a focus on the action of mosaics of plantation ages.
A significant challenge of this Commitment is monitoring water availability on a large scale. To this end, work has been done to create an innovative and pioneering platform for the forestry sector, with technology for measuring water in the forest using satellites. This is a co-development partnership between Suzano and the startup Marvin Blue, a Suzano Ventures investment portfolio company. The tool will allow hydrological monitoring to be expanded, contributing to measurement after implementing management actions, which is the scope of the goal.
Recognizing the importance of springs and their role as primary sources of water supply and rivers, in 2024, we implemented a new strategy to promote the protection and revitalization of these natural water sources, especially those located in the target critical basins.
So, we carried out a pilot project in springs in areas of native vegetation in the Atlantic Forest biome (Espírito Santo). Based on a diagnosis of the environmental quality of 100 springs, an artificial intelligence model was developed with the aim of mapping springs and increasing the effectiveness of actions to preserve these bodies of water. The model will help improve efficiency and reduce costs in the current process, which requires human resources for on-site diagnosis. We intend to advance this strategy in other biomes that Suzano occupies as part of the company's sustainable management of water resources.
In 2024, Suzano joined The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and became part of the Coalition for Water. This initiative aims to develop mechanisms to conserve water resources in river basins in areas of high water stress in the Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, and Amazon biomes. It will give visibility to the actions of this Commitment.
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Cumulative | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | ||
|
Percentage of Managed Areas |
0.00% |
7.30% |
0.90% |
0.50% |
9,9 |
18.60% |
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Cumulative | |
| ha | ha | ha | ha | ha | ha | |
|
Managed Areas (ha) |
0.00 |
6,492.00 |
792.00 |
442.00 |
8,757.00 |
16,483.00 |
In 2025, the main actions planned are:
- implementation of age mosaic management and increased planting spacing in the areas planned for this
- continuing to carry out research and development projects to increase the accuracy of the tools used to check the progress of the management actions adopted (procedural and satellite modeling)
- field installation (in situ) of checkpoints for water monitoring in watersheds considered critical.
All the actions contribute, directly or indirectly, to our goal of increasing water availability in Suzano's areas located in critical watersheds, i.e. those most at risk of water scarcity.
- Watersheds considered critical are subject to water unavailability due to natural characteristics (such as climate and soil type) and land use (such as pastures, crops, etc.). Suzano is concentrating on watersheds with significant occupation by the company (equal to or greater than 30%), so that the practices adopted by forest management can have an effect and generate the best results to reverse the criticality of these watersheds and the consequent unavailability of water.
- Examples of forest management actions in the context of the target:
i) Increase the diversity of forest ages;
ii) Reducing the density of forest plantations;
iii) Reducing the amount of forest in the basin;
iv) Extend the forest's growth cycle;
v) Extend the period for planting the new forest after the previous harvest.
Conserve Biodiversity
Connect half a million hectares of priority areas for biodiversity conservation in the Cerrado, Atlantic Forest, and Amazon.
Offer renewable products
Make available 10 million tons of renewable-source products that can replace plastic and other petroleum-based products by 2030.
Tackling the Climate Crisis
Remove 40 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere by 2025; Reduce by 15% the intensity of the Greenhouse Gas emissions of scopes 1 and 2, per ton of production...
Taking care of the water
Increase water availability in all the critical watersheds¹ in Suzano's areas of operation by 2030 and reduce by 15% the water captured in our industrial operations...
73.3 %
Ensuring the renewal cycle of water is essential for life on the planet and Suzano's production process. We operate within the best international water use practices in the industry, established by the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). We believe that reducing water consumption in our operations is fundamental to reducing the water footprint of our products and helping to reduce the risk of water scarcity in the regions where we operate.
Informations
ScopeThe commitment covers specific water withdrawal (m³/t) and total water withdrawal (m³) per ton of saleable pulp and paper from all Suzano industrial units.
Reduce water withdrawal in industry by 15% per ton of product - from 29.8 m³/t to 25.3 m³/t by 2030²
Specific water withdrawal in 2024 was 26.5 m³/ton, a 73% increase from the baseline.
Despite a very challenging year, with eight general shutdowns at Suzano units - periods in which specific consumption tends to increase, as there is continuous use of water even without production - the result was in line with the established target. Various initiatives to improve processes and modernize made it possible to make significant progress in the results of the Aracruz and Mogi das Cruzes, Três Lagoas, and Jacareí units.
It is worth noting that the data from the Ribas do Rio Pardo unit was not included in the calculation of the Commitment's results due to the inherent instability of the plant's start-up, which is still underway in 2024. However, monitoring performance over the first few months of the plant's operation confirms the initial expectation that water consumption will be lower than Suzano's current average, contributing positively to the target.
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m³/t | m³/t | m³/t | m³/t | m³/t | m³/t | m³/t | |
|
Amount of water withdrawal from industrial operations (m³/t) |
29.80 |
29.40 |
28.60 |
26.30 |
25.90 |
26.70 |
26.50 |
We will continue to conduct feasibility analyses to introduce technologies that contribute to good management and efficiency in water consumption. We will also continue to monitor the performance of the Ribas do Rio Pardo unit, expecting the positive impact of including its results in calculating the Commitment in 2025.
- When the target was created in 2019, we still didn't have data for the year. Therefore, 2018 data was used for its composition.
- The specific water abstraction commitment was linked to some of the company's financial operations, along with other targets, in the Sustainability-Linked Loan (SLL) modality, issued by Suzano in February 2021, in the amount of 1.57 billion dollars and Sustainability-Linked Bond (SLB), issued by Suzano in June and September 2021, in the amount of 1.5 billion dollars. To learn more about these financial operations, visit our Investor Relations website.
- For more information on our water use efficiency actions, visit: “Effluent management in industrial operations.”
- For the consolidation of the 2024 result, the Ribas do Rio Pardo plant was not considered in the calculations.
Conserve Biodiversity
Connect half a million hectares of priority areas for biodiversity conservation in the Cerrado, Atlantic Forest, and Amazon.
Offer renewable products
Make available 10 million tons of renewable-source products that can replace plastic and other petroleum-based products by 2030.
Tackling the Climate Crisis
Remove 40 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere by 2025; Reduce by 15% the intensity of the Greenhouse Gas emissions of scopes 1 and 2, per ton of production...
Taking care of the water
Increase water availability in all the critical watersheds¹ in Suzano's areas of operation by 2030 and reduce by 15% the water captured in our industrial operations...