The Global Canopy Programme (GCP) and CDP today launched a new report titled ‘Turning collective commitment into action: Assessing progress by Consumer Goods Forum members towards achieving deforestation-free supply chains’. It tracks the progress made by Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) members towards the removal of deforestation from global commodity supply chains such as palm oil, timber, beef and soya. It draws upon data from GCP’s Forest 500 and CDP’s forests program (2015 results), two initiatives collaborating to identify, assess and engage key corporations to accelerate progress towards deforestation-free commodity supply chains.
Collectively, members of the CGF hold significant power over supply chains which are driving deforestation. They therefore have significant leverage to affect the business practices of upstream companies, by putting in place and implementing robust deforestation-free procurement policies. For example, the 55 CGF members assessed in the Forest 500 control 37.3 per cent of the cosmetics and personal care sector. The CGF’s collective 2020 zero net deforestation commitment has helped to highlight and mainstream issues surrounding deforestation.
Tom Bregman, Project Manager – Drivers of Deforestation, Global Canopy Programme said, ‘The collective CGF commitment highlights current momentum around the move towards deforestation-free commodity supply chains. While many CGF members have taken action and put in place commodity-specific procurement policies, more companies still need to do so in order for the commitment to be fulfilled. Positive change can also be driven by CGF members looking beyond palm oil to mitigate risks in their other commodity supply chains – particularly soya and cattle products.
The ‘Turning collective commitment into action’ report found that:
·89 per cent of 44 CGF companies disclosing to CDP’s forests program acknowledge at least one deforestation-related risk in their supply chains that has the potential to generate a substantive change in business operations, revenue or expenditure.
·Of the 55 CGF members assessed in the Forest 500, 14 companies (25 per cent of those assessed) have made zero or zero net deforestation commitments that apply across the commodities that they procure; this is ten times higher than non-CGF companies.
·Of those companies without zero or zero net commitments across all their commodities, CGF members are also more likely to have zero or zero net deforestation commitments in place for some of the commodities that they procure.
·In the 2015 annual Forest 500 ranking, CGF members scored twice as many points as non-members. Furthermore, 20 (50 per cent) of the 40 companies scoring more than 60 points out of 100 on the Forest 500 ranking are CGF members, and all six companies that score more than 80 points out of 100 are CGF members.
·Greater auditing of suppliers by CGF members is needed to achieve meaningful progress towards deforestation-free supply chains. For some commodities, such as soya, less than 20 per cent of CGF manufacturers and retailers disclosing to CDP’s forests program state that they audit their suppliers, whereas for timber products the figure is 56 per cent.
Katie McCoy, head of forests at CDP, said: “Tackling deforestation in their supply chains should be a top priority for companies concerned with future-proofing their business for the move to a low-carbon economy. Consumer Goods Forum members are in a powerful position to drive the transition to deforestation-free supply chains. Whilst it is encouraging to see that some are leveraging their power, now is the time for this commitment to be translated into concrete action across the board.”
Media Contacts
Rachel Mountain, Head of Communications, Global Canopy Programme,
r.mountain@globalcanopy.org, +44 (0)7446 733 741
Sarah Savage, Communications Manager, CDP
sarah.savage@cdp.net / +44 (0) 203 818 3913
Editors Notes:
About the Global Canopy Programme
The Global Canopy Programme is a tropical forest think tank working to demonstrate the scientific, political and business case for safeguarding forests as natural capital that underpins water, food, energy, health and climate security for all. Our vision is a world where rainforest destruction has ended. Our mission is to accelerate the transition to a deforestation free economy. To find out more about our work visit www.globalcanopy.org. The Forest 500 is the world’s first rainforest ratings agency. It identifies and ranks the most influential companies, financial institutions and governments in the race towards a deforestation-free global economy. It assesses the policies of 250 companies, 150 investors and lenders, 50 jurisdictions, and 50 other powerbrokers, each selected based on their exposure to forest risk commodity supply chains.
About CDP
CDP, formerly Carbon Disclosure Project, is an international, not-for-profit organization providing the global system for companies, cities, states and regions to measure, disclose, manage and share vital information on their environmental performance. CDP, voted number one climate research provider by investors, works with 827 institutional investors with assets of US$100 trillion, to motivate companies to disclose their impacts on the environment and natural resources and take action to reduce them. More than 5,600 companies, representing close to 60 per cent global market capitalisation, disclosed environmental information through CDP in 2015. CDP now holds the most comprehensive collection globally of primary corporate environmental data and puts these insights at the heart of strategic business, investment and policy decisions. Please visit www.cdp.net/ or follow us @CDP to find out more.
CDP’s forests program provides the only unified system for disclosing corporate deforestation risk exposure and management information across four key forest risk commodities: timber products, palm oil, soy and cattle products. CDP’s forests program acts on behalf of 365 signatory investors with US$22 trillion in assets who wish to understand how companies are addressing their exposure to deforestation risks. In 2015, 180 companies, worth over US$3tn, responded to CDP’s information request.
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