SWITZERLAND – COFCO International, the overseas trading subsidiary of COFCO Corp has joined the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) to accelerate sustainable development across its businesses.

As a member of WBCSD, COFCO targets to tackle sustainability in soy production and land use challenges in Brazil.

The company joins WBCSD as a member of the WBCSD’s soft commodities forum, alongside Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge, Cargill, Louis Dreyfus Company and Glencore Agriculture.

“As a fast-growing global agri-business, we are committed to playing an integral part in the world’s food system over the long term, building on our core values of partnership and sustainability,” said Johnny Chi, chairman of COFCO International.

“WBCSD offers a platform for further collaboration with stakeholders across various industries with the common goal of feeding a growing global population sustainably.”

The move contributes greatly to COFCO’s ambitious targets of ‘meeting tomorrow’s demand’ by making agricultural products available through a sustainable value chain.

The objectives include reducing the environmental impact of its activities around the world, minimizing the social and environmental risks along the supply chain, upholding standards, taking care of people and building strong communities.

“Transformation of the global food system is essential and will cover a wide array of sustainability targets,” said Peter Bakker, president and chief executive officer of WBCSD.

“It’s not simply about reducing emissions in this sector — addressing malnutrition, providing healthy diets and improving the livelihoods and resilience of small farmers is just as urgent.”

COFCO, which handles more than 100 million tonnes of agricultural commodities each year recently joined Archer Daniels Midland Co., Bunge Ltd., Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus Co. in efforts to enhance transparency and efficiency in digital grain trading.

The company which is also the overseas agriculture business platform for COFCO Corp., a Chinese-based food agriculture company, employs 12,000 people in 35 countries.

Other members of the WBCSD include Bayer, DuPont, Evonik, Kellogg, Mondi, Nestle, Olam, PepsiCo, Inc., and Rabobank among many others.