Preserving natural heritage
We are conscious of the impact our activity can have on the natural world and we are working to reduce it. For example, we are improving the way we monitor water in order to better manage this resource.
Mitigating our impact on biodiversity
Imerys has a structured approach to biodiversity preservation across the Group, with a new roadmap, rolled out in 2021. It notably requires all our sites to take into account impacts on natural habitats and to put in place mitigation measures covering the whole operation cycle.
On March 19, 2025, we published our first voluntary Biodiversity Report which describes the key elements of our biodiversity strategy, and highlights the progress we are making towards our long-term ambition of no net biodiversity loss.
Preserving natural resources
We are working to improve our water management policy across all current and future operations around the world. Also, to preserve mineral resources, we introduce reclaimed raw materials where possible in existing product solutions.
Nurturing scientific partnerships for the long term
We have a comprehensive network of partnerships with experts, scientific bodies, international organizations and industry leaders that allow us to combine resources and expertise so we can make a difference in protecting the environment together. In 2020, we joined act4nature international, actively supporting the ten commitments of this initiative to protect, promote and restore biodiversity. Since 2018, we have a scientific partnership with PatriNat, a French organization bringing together experts from the French National Museum of Natural History, the French Agency for Biodiversity, the Institute of Research and Development (IRD), and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).
Objectives and progress
As we celebrate the United Nations International Day for Biological Diversity, we are proud to announce the renewal of our act4nature international commitments for the period 2025-2028. This renewal marks a significant step in strengthening our action plan to preserve natural heritage.
As a world leader in mineral-based specialty solutions for industry, and signatory of act4nature international since 2018, we recognize that our activities put pressure on ecosystems. Protecting biodiversity is therefore at the heart of our purpose: Unlocking Better Futures for our people, our customers, and our planet.
Preserving biodiversity also means looking beyond our sites. When our impacts on nature cannot be totally avoided, reduced or restored, we move on to the ultimate stage: offset. This final phase of the biodiversity mitigation hierarchy aims to balance the scales by generating biodiversity gains outside our sites at least equivalent to the losses caused by our activities.
Discover how we implement offset measures through concrete examples of wetlands and habitat restoration in Sandersville, USA, and in Clérac, France.
From a volcanic island in Greece to a forest in Austria, we adapt to the unique local climatic conditions of each site with the same objective: to bring nature back by restoring our quarries.
When our impacts on nature cannot be completely avoided or minimized, the third step of the biodiversity mitigation hierarchy aims at repairing what extractive activities are altering.
In this third article of our biodiversity campaign, we move on to the second step of the mitigation hierarchy: Minimization. This step of the biodiversity mitigation hierarchy, focuses on reducing residual impacts throughout the lifecycle of our projects. By combining scientific expertise, local adaptation, and employee engagement, Imerys is actively working to minimize its impact on natural heritage. From protecting peregrine falcons in the United Kingdom (UK) to managing invasive species in Thailand, our teams around the world are taking actions to safeguard biodiversity.