BioHarvest Sciences Inc (CSE:BHSC) (OTCMKTS:CNVCF) (FRA:8MV) has announced the publication of its inaugural Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) report, detailing the company's performance and ongoing commitment to creating a sustainable future.
BioHarvest said it is the first biotechnology company engaged in the production of cannabis and cannabinoids to publish a comprehensive ESG report that commits to meaningful science-based targets over the next five years.
Sustainability has always been at the core of BioHarvest, with the company's BioFarming technology allowing it to produce active plant ingredients without having to grow the plant itself.
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The company said this practice of sustainability reduces resource requirements in general as well as greenhouse gas emissions -- which would otherwise be generated -- and prevents biodiversity loss.
The BioHarvest’s technology offers the following:
- Uses 99.99% less land than traditional agriculture
- Produces zero Scope 1 or direct greenhouse emissions in the BioFarming manufacturing process
- Uses no solvents or pesticides in the manufacturing process, resulting in wastewater that is 100% biodegradable and contains no chemicals
- Produces no hazardous waste in the BioFarming manufacturing process
The company also said its report details the policies, metrics, and programs that support each of its four key ESG pillars:
- Product: Promoting pure well-being by providing fully traceable, science-based, and innovative products with proven health benefits that improve the well-being of our customers.
- Process: Demonstrating the minimal footprint of its production process while striving to reduce any adverse impact on water use, climate, and the environment.
- People: Supporting its people by treating them with the utmost respect, the safest working conditions, and allowing them to develop and thrive in the workplace.
- Governance: Setting the standard for end-to-end sustainability, ethical marketing, business ethics, and transparency in the industry.
BioHarvest said the report is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the reporting requirements of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board.
While the report primarily focuses on the production of its flagship dietary supplement VINIA, it provides important insights on how that production process can transform global cannabis production.
The company recently announced a significant breakthrough in its production of cannabis and is on track to reach commercialization in the first half of 2022. The sustainability advantages which will accrue from the cannabis vertical will be benchmarked versus the industry and highlighted in the company's 2022 sustainability report, the company said.
"I could not be more excited to release our inaugural ESG report and share the incredible progress we have made over the past 10 years to help create a more sustainable future,” said BioHarvest CEO Ilan Sobel in a statement. “Unlike other companies, sustainability is not something we feel compelled to support; to the contrary, it is at the core of our technology, which unlocks the cellular biological secrets of the plant kingdom.”
Sobel added: "As the company grows, we want to redouble our efforts to ensure that our transparency, governance, environmental and social record remains best-in-class for the nutraceutical and cannabis industries as well as future verticals we expand into with our BioFarming technology."
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