The Sustainability Plan presented this year by SQM, contemplates specific goals
The company is in the process of international certifications in this area; This, within the framework of working with a high standard of transparency and public reportability of the objectives focused on environmental protection, social responsibilities and sustainable operation. SQM's sustainability aspiration includes goals Our Environment, Our Communities and Our contribution to sustainable industries. Among the commitments that SQM assumed in "A Better Environment" is; reduce brine extraction by 50% by 2030, which started with a reduction of 20% in November of this year; reduce continental water consumption by 65% by 2040, starting with 40% by 2030; and to be carbon neutral in all our products by 2040 and in the case of lithium, potassium chloride and iodine by 2030. To give greater transparency to the advances in sustainable management, SQM was incorporated in the measurement and certification of its annual sustainability report, using the methodology proposed by the Global Reporting Initiative, GRI. Recently, the S&P Dow Jones Index announced the results of the evaluations carried out and SQM qualified for both the DJSI Chile Index and the DJSI MILA Pacific Alliance Index, which represents a great achievement for the company. In this regard, the General Manager, Ricardo Ramos commented: “This is the first year in which we actively participated in the evaluation of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, and we were accepted in two categories. This great achievement is the reflection of a work aimed at promoting sustainability as part of our development strategy. Our commitment to sustainability translates into challenging our operational practices and thus reducing the impact on our environment, deepening dialogue and building close and respectful relationships with neighboring communities, and achieving a high standard of transparency in everything we do. We understand that our efforts do not stop here, and we will continue our work related to environmental protection, social responsibility and corporate governance. " Additionally, last September, the company began its self-evaluation process in the responsible mining standard, Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance, IRMA, in the Salar de Atacama, the first step towards certification in this demanding standard. IRMA is an international certification of sustainable mining that measures improvements in practices in factors such as health and safety of workers, human rights, community participation, pollution control, rights of indigenous peoples, transparency in the payment of taxes of the companies to governments, among other requirements. In parallel, a diagnostic process began this month at CDP, an international non-profit organization that helps companies and cities to disseminate their environmental impact related to greenhouse gases, the use and consumption of water and biodiversity. Likewise, a few months ago our Human Rights Policy was presented, an important first step in the process of materializing our commitments with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and Business, within the framework of "Protection, Respect and Remedy" of The United Nations. The publication of this Policy implies awareness and commitment to the respect and promotion of human rights, and the beginning of a process of implementation and improvement of due diligence mechanisms that progressively identify, prevent, mitigate and remedy any eventual effect. adverse in human rights of our operations.
