José De pina0:27
Promises for 2030 are fundamentally a next step, part of giving substance to the journey that Altri has been making in recent years. Sustainability at Altri has always been deeply embedded in the company's own culture. A reflection of this is the fact that today we are one of the most efficient producers in the world.
When I talk about efficiency and productivity, I'm not just talking about volume metrics. Altri is number one in the world in two of its three units in terms of water consumption, one of the most efficient in energy consumption, in raw material consumption. In forestry, we have had activities for many years to privilege not only productive forestry but also a biodiversity component. Today, more than 10% of the areas managed by Altri are not directly managed for the production of our raw material, all of which are activities that already take place.
When we look at what would be the next step, the 2030 commitment was essentially to give body to this aspiration to do more and better. So we set objectives that are long-term, many of them very ambitious. We are going to place incentives not only to achieve them but to surpass them. This ultimately brings together the effort and attention of the group on everything related to our investments, our way of working, our products, the way we develop the organization. We think this turned out to be a natural step, but an important step for the growth of the group.
The European strategy for the forest is certainly an important step. However, it is not very perceptible in terms of what we think the economic impact might be, at least in terms of the main components. The strategy looks at the forest primarily as a carbon sink and perhaps with a biodiversity understanding, when the forest is more than that. So we know exactly what the next step will be in terms of European care to follow a strategy that equitably considers all links in the value chain. This becomes particularly important because the industries are 75% of something important already today in Europe, important in Portugal. We think the opportunity for the Portuguese government to define, in collaboration with forest agents, its contribution to this strategy is also important. We think that without much time passing, some vectors have been defined that are aligned with the policy that the EU wants to develop.
But in terms of industry, the forest sector and the downstream industries, we think that the whole issue of productivity becomes particularly important. Today we still have a significant amount of areas with very low production, abandoned forest areas that could be put into production. There are areas that today have no value, that are just scrubland, and that could be used not only for production forestry but also for conservation forestry. Both aspects could be particularly important within the context of the EFR.
Another really important point, considering the importance of the forest as a carbon sink and the need to value and reward forest actors for their contribution, which ends up helping in the management of various systems. So thinking about how this work in the forest can eventually help in the development of activities that address threats to the forest is a very important step that can be taken.
This sector in particular, the forest sector, is a sector with a future. Everything related to the use of raw materials of biological origin, specifically forest-based, are segments that will continue to have increasing isolation in the circular economy. These are products that are natural, renewable, recyclable. Therefore, we think that everything that is currently developing around these industries is very encouraging. All actors can look to the future with optimism.
