SÃO PAULO, Brazil – Marfrig Group will begin a process to map greenhouse gas emissions in the company’s supply chain.

Marfrig said it has asked suppliers to respond to a questionnaire developed by the CDP Supply chain program of the Carbon Disclosure Project’s (CDP), a platform for reporting climate change information. Survey results will be used to develop sustainability initiatives and create business opportunities that will lead to reductions in the carbon footprint of the company’s products.

By the end of 2012, 53 suppliers in Marfrig’s supply chain in Brazil will submit reports about their operations. The companies are rural producers and suppliers of energy, packaging, cereals and logistics services, Marfrig said. Approximately 95 percent of the company’s greenhouse gas emissions come from its supply chain, while 5 percent comes from direct operations.

“We plan to engage these suppliers in a debate and jointly come up with how to develop processes and products that have smaller carbon footprints,” said Cléver Pirola Ávila, director of sustainability at Marfrig Group.

Marfrig said the company plans to send questionnaires to its suppliers annually until 2014. The responses will play a key role in the company’s strategy to an increasing amount of industrial, commercial and service activities to a low-carbon economy according to Marfrig’s Strategic Plan for Climate Change and Natural Resources.

“Greenhouse-gas emissions are having more and more impact on the operations of large companies and reporting this information has become common practice among major global corporations,” said Fernando Figueiredo, director of CDP Brazil and Latin America. “As a company that places a high priority on sustainability in its business and that is aware of its role in relation to its suppliers, Marfrig is in a position to promote a broader debate on this issue in the agriculture industry.”