Monsanto Company Releases 2012 Sustainability Report

ST. LOUIS, June 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Monsanto Company today released its 2012 Sustainability Report. The report focuses both on how the company operates its business and how it is working with partners to help with the challenge of feeding 9 billion people expected to inhabit Earth by 2050.

"Every day we are met with the challenges of a growing planet. We will need to produce more food while using natural resources even more efficiently. We are focused on tools and information that empower the world's farmers to find solutions to these challenges," said Jerry Steiner, executive vice president of sustainability and corporate affairs for Monsanto. "This report details our commitment to sustainability, includes a balanced view of our progress to date and examines the challenges we face along our company's sustainability journey."

June 2013 marks the five-year anniversary of when Monsanto made its commitment to sustainable agriculture – pledging to help farmers double yields in our core crops (corn, soy, canola and cotton) by 2030 while committing to produce each ton with one-third fewer resources (land, water and energy). Additionally, the company committed to a goal to help farmers improve their quality of life, including 5 million people in resource-poor farm families by 2020.

"While we've made progress towards some of our goals surrounding our commitment to sustainable agriculture, we still have much more to achieve," said Steiner. "We stand committed to continue to do our part and work together with farmers and partners to continuous improvement in advancing sustainable agriculture."

There are four chapters in the Monsanto 2012 Sustainability Report: (1) Our Commitments, (2) Food and Nutrition, (3) Environment and (4) Communities. Report highlights include:

• Employees work to further operationalize sustainability in the company by establishing the Sustainability Strategy Council, which is made up of cross-functional leadership providing guidance and direction on the company's sustainability goals.
• A materiality analysis matrix which helps define the issues that are important to stakeholders and that the company can positively impact around the world.
• Recognition of our employees who best exemplify the company's values and commitment to sustainable agriculture through the Sustainable Yield Pledge Awards.
• Progress on our three-fold sustainable agriculture goal: produce more, conserve more and improving lives.
• Progress on five of our signature partnerships: Monsanto's Beachell-Borlaug International Scholars Program, Mississippi River Watershed Partnership, Water Efficient Maize for Africa, Brazilian partnership with Conservation International, and Project SHARE (Sustainable Harvest – Agriculture, Resources, Environment) in India.
• The company's commitment to work with farmers to address the challenges associated with water, offering sustainable solutions to help manage water demands while meeting farmers' needs and improving yields.
• Expansion of our company's R&D pipeline to include agricultural biologicals, a category of sustainable crop protection solutions made from materials found in nature.
• Examples of Monsanto's philanthropic arm working to substantially and meaningfully improve the lives of people around the world.

The content for the Monsanto 2012 Sustainability Report was developed following the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines for sustainability reporting. The GRI is a sustainability reporting framework that helps companies measure and report their sustainability performance. Monsanto self-declared the 2012 report at a GRI Application Level B based on the GRI Application Level Grid. GRI reviewed and approved the report with GRI Application Level Check of B. Application Levels reflect the degree of transparency against the GRI guidelines in reporting.

In addition to reporting on the indicators specified by GRI, the company's 2012 report also complements the company's 2012 Communication on Progress with the United Nations Global Compact, the world's largest sustainability and corporate citizenship initiative. Monsanto joined the United Nations Global Compact in 2009.

In line with Monsanto's commitment of conserving natural resources, the company offers the full content of the Monsanto 2012 Sustainability Report online at: sustainability.monsanto.com.

About Monsanto Company
Monsanto Company is a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality. Monsanto remains focused on enabling both small-holder and large-scale farmers to produce more from their land while conserving more of our world's natural resources such as water and energy. To learn more about our business and our commitments, please visit: www.monsanto.com.  Follow our business on Twitter^® at www.twitter.com/MonsantoCo, on the company blog, Beyond the Rows at www.monsantoblog.com, or subscribe to our News Release RSS Feed.

CONTACT:  Billy Brennan, [email protected]

SOURCE Monsanto Company