The Group acknowledges the importance of protecting and safeguarding the environment as part of strategic business decisions. Among the Company's main commitments, the reduction of its direct and indirect impacts is a priority. In terms of direct impacts, IMA is committed to minimising any possible impact deriving from the production cycle through:

• rational consumption of energy resources, favoring the supply from renewable sources;
• the conservation of limited natural resources and the use of raw materials and products with reduced environmental impact;
• the prevention of pollution generated by atmospheric emissions, through the use of the best available technologies and methods for calculation and monitoring (carbon footprint);
• careful management of scrap and waste generated by production activities.

Consistent with the European Green Deal and the international recommendations of the TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures), IMA has prepared the groundwork for the identification of Science Based Targets that, over time, will enable the Group to reduce its ecological footprint and edge even closer to the “carbon neutrality” goal. In 2020, IMA Group launched a project together with Valle Morosina, a firm that generates certified carbon credits from the photosynthesis of plants, the circulation of algae in fresh water and from the biological production of aquaculture activities (extensive fish farming) that take place in the Morosina Valleys and in Ghebo Storto (Southern Venetian Lagoon). In particular, the Group has acquired sufficient carbon credits to offset all of its direct emissions (due to the use of fuels and refrigerants) and indirect emissions (due to the use of electricity). As part of the same project, the Company obtained third-party certification of compliance with the ß Neutral standard, which requires a commitment to steadily reduce the emissions generated by its productive processes.

Various methods have been adopted by IMA to reduce energy consumption: from the adoption of responsible behaviour by personnel, investment in efficient or low-consumption installations, machinery and devices, from the addition of control systems to new installations in order to monitor energy use constantly, to the use of renewable energies. In 2020, the supply of electricity certified to derive solely from renewable sources made it possible to avoid 8,598.7 ton CO2eq of indirect emissions (using the market-based21 calculation method envisaged in the 2015 “GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance – An amendment to the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard”). Considering the IMA Group in the world, 8,647.8 ton CO2eq of indirect emissions were saved on the same basis.