Strengthening our Climate Action Plan
As part of our 10-year program, we closed the year with an increase in renewable energies and peaks of 100% supply in Tucumán. Additionally, at the beginning of 2022 we issued a sustainability-linked bond.
Working in harmony with nature is part of San Miguel's DNA. This is why we launched our Climate Action Plan in 2020, and year after year we continue to winning in milestones that enhance its impact.
This is a 10-year initiative that integrates the use of renewable energies, the preservation of more than 6,000 hectares of native woodlands -which act as a CO2 sink- and measuring the Global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory, which is used to identify and implement improvement and efficiency actions.
Within this framework, we have been progressively increasing the share of renewable energies in our industrial complex in Famaillá, Tucumán. Following a 40% target set at the beginning of the plan, we ended 2021 with an average supply more than 70% and even managed to reach peaks of 100% clean energy supply.
As regards energy efficiency, with the incorporation of a new boiler, we were able to reuse 70% of the biogas generated in the effluent treatment plant and thanks to the work of the improvement groups formed at the counter-season, achieved an improvement in the energy efficiency of 15%.
Promoting a triple-impact approach, the program also has significant economic benefits. At the end the 2021, the initiative had saved San Miguel USD 250,000. Moreover, these environmental commitments allowed the company to access financing opportunities: recently, San Miguel has issued the second sustainability-linked bond. This is an instrument pioneered by San Miguel in Argentina in September 2021, after issuing the first country's “Sustainability Linked Bonds (SLB)”.
As a result, the Climate Action Plan has received a special mention in the “Sustainable Leadership Awards from the BritCham” and the “Solidarity Entrepreneur Award” from the Foro Ecuménico Social. Undoubtedly, two awards that validate the journey we have made and renew our commitment to the conscious management of natural resources and the reduction of our carbon footprint.