In our 2024 Sustainability Performance Review, Sylvamo Chief Sustainability Officer James McDonald addressed the company's sustainability performance and offered his perspective on our sustainability journey so far. Read his letter below.
To our stakeholders:
In 2024, we witnessed a global push from voluntary to mandatory environmental, social and governance reporting.
Reporting regulations were proposed, approved and implemented in almost all the regions where Sylvamo operates—Europe, Latin America and North America. This proliferation of rules required that we adopt a comprehensive strategy to ensure compliance while maximizing the value of our reporting efforts for key stakeholders.
In Europe, we focused on the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities. We also began to determine the steps required to comply with the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).
In Latin America, we tracked Brazil’s efforts to create a new framework for carbon capture and storage.
In North America, we followed the creation, stay and suspension of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) climate-related disclosure requirements, and aligned with global standards such as the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Task Force on Naturerelated Financial Disclosures (TNFD).
To navigate the diverse regulatory landscapes, we established a cross-functional governance team that provided training and fostered internal expertise essential to stay ahead of these regulatory changes. Based on the complexity of the data, we dedicated considerable time and resources to implementing a streamlined data collection, analysis and reporting system intended to ensure timely and accurate disclosures.
When it comes time to report, we have a robust governance structure that oversees our initiatives and disclosures through internal controls, preparing us for third-party audits and independent data assurance required by various regulatory bodies.
Thankfully, our strategy to ensure that Sylvamo remains a sustainable company—generating profits for our shareowners, protecting the environment and improving the lives of the people we interact with—provides a solid foundation to navigate evolving reporting landscapes, to assure our goals and targets remain relevant for Sylvamo, and to deliver the results our stakeholders expect.
I invite you to read our sustainability performance review to learn about how we implemented this strategy in 2024. As always, we invite you to share your feedback. Please send any questions to [email protected].
For more information about Sylvamo, our sustainability efforts, progress on goals and environmental performance, please visit our Why We Care section.
