ATOME’s development strategy is completely aligned with the best ESG practices and our projects are developed according to the International Finance Corporation’s performance standards, focused on contributing towards the UN’s SDG goals.
Today’s challenge in agriculture is “how do we produce more with less”. As the global population grows by 1 billion people every 10 years, we must produce enough food with minimal environmental damage.
Green fertiliser is a catalyst for this, and international agriculture players and food brands are beginning to set aggressive targets to decarbonise their products and Scope 3 emissions through the use of sustainable fertilisers (ADM – 25% GHG reduction in Scope 3 by 2025, Nestlé – net zero by 2050).
SDG Goal 2 – Zero Hunger
Target 2.3: Fertilisers are essential for sustaining food security as they feed approximately 50% of the world’s population
Target 2.1, 2.3: Increasing supply risks lead to high prices of fertiliser and lack of available and affordable food, particularly in import-dependent regions like Mercosur. Brazil, the world’s largest importer of fertiliser, imports 23% of its supply from Russia
Target 2.3: ATOME will provide farmers with up to 270,000 tons per year of locally produced affordable and sustainable fertiliser to sustain regional food security. In Paraguay alone, 1.3 million people cannot afford healthy food
SDG Goal 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation
Target 6.3: Improving water quality, wastewater treatment and safe reuse
Target 6.3, 6.4: Innovative processing and efficient use of water enables 32% of the required water to be returned to the river with better quality and meeting IFC standards following treatment at the facility
Target 6.3, 6.6: Oxygenation of river water also improves aquatic and fishing life, mitigating existing low dissolved oxygen concentrations that seasonally leads to fish die-off
SDG Goal 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy
Target 7.a: ATOME uses 100% baseload renewable energy from Itaipu hydroelectric plant to power the facility, representing a small portion of the country’s available power and does not add strain on the grid or domestic industry
Target 7.1: Being a first-mover project in the region, ATOME is promoting access to new technologies and significant investment in clean energy
SDG Goal 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth
Target 8.5: Generation of approx. 400 direct and 800 indirect jobs during construction and roughly 1,100 jobs during the O&M phase of the first Project
Target 8.2: Direct investment of over US$450 million into the country
Target 8.1, 8.4: US$1 billion in revenues over 30-year project lifetime to the state power company and government for the contracted power that would otherwise be exported
SDG Goal 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Target 9.b: ATOME’s ‘first-of-a-kind’ facility provides significant technological and industrial development in the country, enabling growth for the local agricultural industry and reducing Paraguay’s total reliance on imported goods
Target 9.4: Generating hydrogen by electrolysis represents under 4% of today’s global production today
Target 9.4: Haber-Bosch process powered by clean hydroelectricity drastically reduces the carbon footprint of ammonia production
SDG Goal 10 – Reduced Inequalities
Target 10.3: Implementing equal opportunities and prevent discrimination during contracting
Target 10.4: Good working conditions, fair incomes and benefits that meet or exceed local labor requirements, contributing to reduction in income inequalities. Paraguay’s Gini index (43) indicates a trend towards inequality
Target 10.3: Investing in the development of local workers through opportunities for skills development
Target 10.2, 10.3: Promoting opportunities for gender equality, diversity, and inclusion. Only 8.2% of women are engaged industries operations and wage inequalities are persistent (23% less than men) (2022, INE)
SDG Goal 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production
Target 12.5: Programs in place to reduce the use of plastic and employ effective waste management to segregate, transport and recycle plastic at authorised recycling facilities where it cannot be avoided
Target 12.6, 12.9: Using 100% renewable energy and generates 2.9 MW of energy from the heat recovery which is then used within the ammonia plant to reduces energy consumption from the grid
SDG Goal 13 – Climate Action
Target 13.2, 13.3: Displacement of up to 500,000 tons/CO2eq per year. Over a 30-year lifetime, this amounts to 15 million tons/CO2eq displaced which is equivalent to removing 3.3 million petrol cars off the road for a year
Target 13.2: Alignment with Paraguay’s NDCs and Energy Policy
Target 13.3: Education and awareness for stakeholders on the important transition to a low-carbon economy and how, via the production of green hydrogen, ATOME positively impacts the fertiliser sector – an industry which emits 2.6 billion tons of carbon emissions per year (5% of global GHG emissions) – more than global aviation and shipping sectors combined
