FGV Annual Report 2014

Planet As an agriculture-based Group, the sustained fecundity of land supporting our plantations is critical to our long-term success. Towards this end, and also to ensure our operations do not negatively impact the natural biodiversity of surrounding areas, FGV has been adopting Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Management Practices (GMP). We were among the first in the region to be Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)- certified and to receive the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC). Over the years, we keep increasing the number of plantations, as well as mills that are certified to these standards leading to a total of 29 RSPO-certified mills and 15 ISCC mills as at the end of 2014. Other than the adherence to sustainable agricultural practices, we are contributing to a greener environment, by investing in renewable biofuels. We convert waste from our plantations and mills into biogas whilst producing palm oil-based methyl ester (PME) for use in biodiesel. Renewable Fuel In terms of CR, our 1.2MW biogas capture plant in Felda Umas in Tawau, Sabah is significant, as the electricity generated supplies to 3,000 households in our settlement, where the 15,000 residents previously depended on electricity from diesel-powered generators. This rural electrification scheme was officially launched in May 2014, although it has been operational since 2012. Another biogas scheme was launched in Maokil, where we successfully connected the 1.0MW biogas power plant to the national grid on 31 December 2014. In addition, during the year we commissioned two more biogas capturing facilities in our mills at Nitar, Johor and Kota Gelanggi, Pahang. Via all our biogas capturing projects, in 2014 we achieved an overall reduction in emission of an equivalent of more than 64,000 tons of CO 2 . Additionally, our stand-alone Sahabat Biomass Power Plant, which supplies clean steam energy and electricity to neighbouring industrial installations, offices, a resort and residential area, delivers the equivalent of more than 3,500 tons of CO 2 . This plant will soon be complemented by our second large scale stand-alone biomass power plant in Jengka 9, Pahang which was operationally tested in December 2014. The 12.5MW Jengka Advanced Renewable Energy Plant consumes 320,000 tonnes of biomass annually and is expected to feed the national grid in 2015. In terms of biodiesel, we made a significant breakthrough in December, when we successfully powered three oil tankers on a total of 1,200km shuttle route with B30 biodiesel (consisting of 30 percent PME and 70 percent conventional carbon-based diesel) from our FGV Transport depot in Gebeng, Kuantan to our palm oil mill in Bukit Sagu, Pahang. Each tanker was loaded with 40 metric tonnes of CPO – before proceeding to the Kuantan Bulking Installation (KBI) to offload the CPO and return to Gebeng. The Government currently requires biodiesel blends to have at least 7 percent PME content. Our PME content, which is more than four times higher than this minimum, demonstrates our willingness to go beyond statutory standards in our commitment to operate in the most environment-friendly and sustainable manner. In addition to the potential savings generated by the reduced consumption of diesel, B30 also reduces our dependency on fossil fuels and strengthens the sustainability of our logistics operations. Upon the successful completion of further tests, we plan to start using up to B30 biodiesel in our fleet operations in stages in 2015. Green Plantations To ensure the sustainability of our agricultural operations, we continue to identify new ways in which we can further reduce our environmental footprint. In a bid to protect the waterways running through its land, in May 2014, Pontian United Plantations (PUP) re-designated its riparian buffer zone to at least 50m from the Kinabatangan river bank, resulting in a total of 19.14 hectares of land being replanted with indigenous forest tree species. The exercise involved shifting electricity fences, roads, drains and bridges at an estimated cost of RM263,770. In October, we also carried out a tree planting programme in the newly-designated Riparian Reserve in the Kinabatangan Mega Biodiversity Corridor with the Sabah Wildlife Department and Borneo Conservation Trust (BCT), and the support of the Sabah Forestry Department and Nestle Malaysia. Felda Global Ventures Holdings Berhad pg 102 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY