ThaiBev Sustainability

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BIODIVERSITY

The global loss of biodiversity is increasingly recognized as one of climate change’s most significant consequences. To make sure that ecosystems remain resilient and minimize any disruptions to the environmental balance society relies on, ThaiBev recognizes biodiversity as a material issue. In 2021, the company embarked on the first year of its biodiversity action plan by performing a systematic screening of its global operations to identify the company's impacts on biodiversity.

Towards 2025 and Beyond

ThaiBev announced two commitments related to biodiversity:

Net positive impact on biodiversity by 2030
No gross deforestation in ThaiBev’s operations and its tier 1 critical suppliers for paper packaging and key agricultural commodities by 2030.

In FY2021, ThaiBev refined the assessment of biodiversity data into a Critical Habitat Assessment (CHA) for 40 locations (42 plants, 34 in Thailand, 2 in Myanmar, and 6 in the United Kingdom). This involved a closer examination of the species in accordance with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standard 6 (PS6) on Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources (IFC 2012), consideration of inputs from extensive expert consultations, and the detail review of the additional site information to better characterize and assess the extent of site development and operation that may have or have impacts to critical biodiversity.

The summary of CHA is as follows:

8 production sites in proximity to Protected Areas
22 production sites in proximity to Key Biodiversity Areas
1 production site in proximity to a Ramsar Convention Area

In FY2022, ThaiBev conducted a Residual Biodiversity Impact Assessment to further assess what are left to be the primary residual impacts to biodiversity associated with a subset of 31 ThaiBev sites (29 locations), located in Thailand (24 sites), Myanmar (1 site), and Scotland (6 sites). These 31 sites were deemed to have greater potential to impact biodiversity due to their proximity to habitats specially designated as important for biodiversity and/or that they occur with the range of species conservation status (nationally or internationally designated as Critically Endangered or Threatened).

The Residual Biodiversity Impact Assessment which carries out the consolidated approaches by using the international Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standard 6 (PS6) on Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources (IFC 2012), as the guiding framework as it represents Good International Industry Practice (GIIP) for biodiversity risk management.

The assessment was broken out into two components:

Obtain and review additional information on the 31 candidate sites: development history; physical footprint; Environmental Management Systems; environmental compliance record; supply chain environmental due diligence; and any on-site and proximate off-site biodiversity or sustainability initiatives (undertaken by ThaiBev or others).
Predict residual biodiversity impacts resulting from site development and operational activities.

Once the prediction of potential impacts is complete, each potential impact is described in terms of its various relevant characteristics (e.g., type, extent, duration, likelihood of occurrence). The next step in the impact assessment is to assign each potential impact a ‘magnitude’ and receptor ‘sensitivity’.

Magnitude essentially describes the intensity of the change that is predicted to occur in the resource/receptor as a result of the potential impact. The magnitude designations are: Negligible; Small; Medium; and Large. In addition to characterizing the magnitude of impact, the other principal impact evaluation step is definition of the sensitivity/vulnerability/importance of the impacted resource/receptor. The sensitivity/vulnerability/importance designations used are: Low; Medium; and High.

Once magnitude of impact and sensitivity/vulnerability/importance of resource/receptor have been characterized, the significance can be assigned for each impact. Impact significance is designated using the matrix shown in Table 1:

Table 1: Impact Significance

Sensitivity / Vulnerability / Importance of Resource / Receptor
Magnitude of Impact
		Low	Medium	High
	Negligible	Negligible	Negligible	Negligible
	Small	Negligible	Minor	Moderate
	Medium	Minor	Moderate	Major
	Large	Moderate	Major	Major

The matrix applies universally to all resources/receptors, and all impacts to these resources/receptors.

The assessment of the likelihood and severity of any impact on critical biodiversity feature(s) for each site will enable the identification of the appropriate level of effort and actions for managing impacts to critical biodiversity (if any). The presence of species that qualify for critical biodiversity does not necessarily means that the site(s) will impact them. Several scenarios are possible, from impacts that are negligible, readily avoided or temporary to those that are or, long-term and challenging to mitigate. For example, some sites have been triggered for the potential presence of only freshwater species. An assessment of the site’s operational activities may suggest that limited to no impacts occur to the river system and the freshwater specifies (where it resides) is expected. Hence, there is no further need to demonstrate application of the mitigation hierarchy to mitigate and manage impacts to those species. The summary of The Residual Biodiversity Impact Assessment is shown in Table 2:

Table 2: Summary of Residual Biodiversity Impact Assessment for 31 ThaiBev sites (29 locations)

S/N	Site Name	Proximity to High Biodiversity Area	Total potentially-qualifying species	Triggered Species	Likelihood of Occurrence	Impact Magnitude	Resources Sensitivity	Impact Significance
Thailand
1	Beer Thip Brewery (1991)	Very High	None	None	Very Unlikely	Medium	Low	Minor
2	Cosmos Brewery (Thailand)	Very High	None	None	Very Unlikely	Small	Low	Negligible
3	Fuengfuanant	Low	4	White-edged whipray, Fluvitrygon signifier (EN) The giant freshwater whipray, Urogymnus polylepis (VU) Somphongs’s rasbora, Trigonostigma somphongsi (CR) Ceratoglanis pachynema (CR)	Very Unlikely	Medium	High	Major
4	Kanchanasingkorn	Very High	1	Roughback whipray, Fluvitrygon kittipongi (EN)	Very Unlikely	Small	Medium	Minor
5	Luckchai Liquor Trading	Very High	None	None	Very Unlikely	Medium	Medium	Moderate
6	Mongkolsamai	Very High	1	Roughback whipray, Fluvitrygon kittipongi (EN)	Very Unlikely	Small	Medium	Minor
7	Nateechai	Low	2	Roughnoise cowtail ray, Pastinachus solocirostris (EN) Pendlebury’s roundleaf bat, Hipposideros pendleburyi (VU)	Very Unlikely	Small	Medium	Minor
8	Oishi Trading (Ban Bueng)	Low	1	Chonburi snake skink, Isopachys roulei (LC, restricted to Thailand)	Very Unlikely	Small	Medium	Minor
9	Oishi Trading (Navanakorn)	Very High	1	Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens (VU, endemic to Thailand)	Very Unlikely	Medium	Low	Minor
10	Oishi Trading (Wang Muang)	High	2	Rufous limestone-babbler, Turdinus calcicole (VU, endemic to central Thailand)	Very Unlikely	Small	High	Moderate
11	Red Bull Distillery (1988)	Very High	None	None	Very Unlikely	Medium	Low	Minor
12	Sangsom (Kanchanaburi)	Very High	1	Roughback whipray, Fluvitrygon kittipongi (EN)	Very Unlikely	Small	Medium	Minor
13	Sangsom (Nakhon Pathom)	Very High	1	Striped catfish, Pangasianodon hypophthalmus (EN)	Very Unlikely	Small	Medium	Minor
14	SermSuk (Chonburi) and Sermsuk Beverest	Moderate	2	Spoon-billed sandpiper, Calidris pygmaea (CR) Spotted greenshank, Tringa guttifer (EN)	Very Unlikely	Medium	High	Major
15	SermSuk (Nakhon Sawan)	Very High	1	Striped catfish, Pangasianodon hypophthalmus (EN)	Very Unlikely	Medium	Medium	Moderate
16	SermSuk (Pathum Thani)	Very High	1	Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens (VU, endemic to Thailand)	Very Unlikely	Medium	Low	Minor
17	SermSuk (Surat Thani)	Low	1	Pendlebury’s roundleaf bat, Hipposideros pendleburyi (VU)	Very Unlikely	Small	Medium	Minor
18	S.S. Karnsura	Low	6	Lacunopsis munensis (VU) Pachydrobia bertini (VU) Mekhongthelphusa kengsaphu (VU) Datnioides undecimradiatus (VU) Mekong stingray, Hemitrygon laosensis (EN) Mekong herring, Tenualosa thibaudeaui (VU, endemic to Mekong basin)	Very Unlikely	Medium	Medium	Moderate
19	Surabangyikhan	Very High	1	Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens (VU, endemic to Thailand)	Very Unlikely	Medium	Low	Minor
20	Thanapakdi	Low	1	Fire bar danio, Devario maetaengensis (DD, considered restricted to the upper Chao Phraya basin, Mae Ping subdrainage) Cryptophaea saukra (CR) Petaliaeschna flavipes (VU)	Very Unlikely	Medium	High	Major
21	United Winery & Distillery and United Products	Very High	1	Striped catfish, Pangasianodon hypophthalmus (EN)	Very Unlikely	Small	Medium	Minor
22	Wrangyer Beverage (2008)	Very High	1	Striped catfish, Pangasianodon hypophthalmus (EN)	Very Unlikely	Small	Medium	Minor
Myanmar
23	Yangon Bottling & Distillery	High	1	Voris’s mud snake, Gyiophis vorisi (EN)	Possible	Medium	Medium	Moderate
Scotland
24	Airdrie Distillery	High	None	None	Very Unlikely	Medium	Low	Minor
25	Balblair Distillery	High	None	None	Possible	Medium	Medium	Moderate
26	Balmenach Distillery	Very High	None	None	Possible	Small	Medium	Minor
27	Pulteney	High	None	None	Very Unlikely	Small	Medium	Minor
28	Knockdhu Distillery	High	None	None	Possible	Large	Low	Moderate
29	Speyburn Distillery	High	None	None	Very Unlikely	Medium	Medium	Moderate

From the summary of Residual Biodiversity Impact Assessment for 31 ThaiBev sites (29 locations), ThaiBev will prepare the Biodiversity Management Plans (BMP) for the major impact identified sites. The BMPs will identify actions, monitoring program, performance metrics and adaptive management plans for selected actions, as well as incorporate mitigation actions in hierarchy.

2022 HIGHLIGHT

ThaiBev has incorporated the mitigation hierarchy into company procedures (avoid, minimize, restore and offset) to manage potential biodiversity risks related to production facilities.
ThaiBev encourages landscaping at all factories to comprise native plant species. This promotes local insect and bird populations, contributing to a positive impact on biodiversity. Factories also limit the use of pesticides to avoid negative impacts on biodiversity in line with ThaiBev’s environmental policy.
Factories that discharge effluent from operations fully comply with local legislation to ensure minimum impacts on biodiversity. Noise reduction and containment measures are taken to ensure impact on biodiversity from machinery or other operations on site.
ThaiBev’s Scottish distillery subsidiary, Inver House, has championed biodiversity efforts. Knockdhu distillery has converted 2,000 square meters of land on the distillery to wetland to be home to 21,000 plants of 17 different species which become a heaven for insects, small mammals, birds and bats. The Speyburn-Glenlivet Distillery constructed a new fish pass in the Granty Burn to overcome in-river obstacles that prevent salmon and sea trout from spawning and to improve the river’s biodiversity.
ThaiBev joined Mae Fah Luang Foundation’s Community Forest Project which aims to integrate rural development with forest preservation. The Phase 1 and 2 of the project covers 45 community forests, covering a total area of 46,141 rai (7,382.56 hectares) in seven provinces, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, Phayao, Kamphaeng Phet, Uthai Thani and Krabi.