Forests
Index
Notable News
Responsible Forest Management & Sourcing
Conservation, Reforestation & Restoration
Research
Business Impact on Global Forests
Tools, Guidance & Case Studies
Collaboration
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Notable News
Responsible Forest Management & Sourcing
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PUMA — Committed to sourcing all bovine leather from verified deforestation-free supply chains by 2030 or earlier. The company has signed on to the Deforestation-Free Call to Action for Leather, which aims to create deforestation-free leather supply chains, protect wildlife habitat and biodiversity, preserve carbon stocks, and protect human rights. Puma’s commitment comes three months after the European Parliament required companies to guarantee that products sold in the EU do not contribute to deforestation and forest degradation in their supply chains. (July 2023)
MORGAN STANLEY — Has agreed to strengthen its deforestation policies for clients after Green Century Funds filed a shareholder proposal in the bank’s 2023 annual meeting. Morgan Stanley has agreed to enhance existing standards for palm oil and forestry clients and to create new written standards for soy and beef clients operating in regions with high deforestation risk. For timber clients in high conservation value forests, the bank will require best-practice Forest Stewardship Council certification or a time-bound plan to achieve it. (March 2023)
CanopyStyle— Announced the initiative had now hit 515 companies and brands, representing more than $857 billion in annual revenue. Since its inception in 2013, the initiative has secured 50% of global viscose (rayon) production as being at low-risk from originating from Ancient Endangered Forests; conserved or secured a long-term moratorium on 11.4 million hectares of biodiverse forests; and “spurred the transition to low-impact Next Gen textiles,” including waste textiles. (Oct 2022)
MONDELĒZ — Pledged to spend an additional $600 million by 2030 on its “Cocoa Life” program to combat child labor, farmer poverty, and deforestation in cocoa production. This will bring the company’s total spending on cocoa sustainability to $1 billion since 2012. Mondelēz has also expanded its goal to work with 300,000 farmers in the program by 2030. In the first ten years of Cocoa Life, farmer net incomes have risen as have cocoa yields. (Oct 2022)
JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP (JLP) — JLP, one of the UK’s largest private companies, launched its “Plan for Nature,” which includes (Oct 2022):
- A new pledge to eliminate deforestation in the supply chains of all key commodities for its private label products;
- Ensuring all key raw materials in its private label products are from recycled or sustainable sources by 2025, including timber, cotton, soya, palm oil, cocoa and cashmere, and by 2028 for polyester, leather and man-made cellulosic fibers;
- A goal to bring agricultural process emissions at its Leckford farm to net-zero by 2024 and apply learnings from this transition across its supply chain.
WESTROCK — Paper and packaging company WestRock announced SBTi-validation of two emission-reduction targets. Specifically, the company will reduce it’s absolute Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions by 27.5% by 2030 (2019 baseline). The company also announced that it will (May 2022):
- Ensure that 100% of its products are recyclable, compostable, or reusable by 2025.
- Support certification of 1.5 million acres or forestland to recognized forest management standards by FY30.
LOUIS DREYFUS COMPANY (LDC) — Committed to eliminating deforestation and native-vegetation conversion for agricultural purposes from its supply chains by year-end 2025. LDC plans to report regularly on progress and conduct supply chain risk assessments to prioritize high-risk areas. (Feb 2022)
EUROPEAN SUPERMARKETS — Six European supermarket chains plan to stop selling some or all-beef products due to links to deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. (Dec 2021)
AXA —
Will
invest $1.7 billion in sustainable forest management, including
$580 million for reforestation projects in emerging countries. It also
joined the
World Heritage Sites initiative, committing to exclude certain insurance activities to
protect UNESCO-identified biodiversity reserves, and said it will
strengthen its insurance and investment requirements for activities actively contributing to deforestation. (Oct 2021)
MORE »
LVMH —
The parent company of Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Givenchy committed to ensure its supply chains for paper, paper packaging and fabrics are free of fiber from the world’s Ancient and Endangered Forests by the end of 2022.
(June 2021)
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FERRERO GROUP —
The confectionery product company released its new Palm Oil Charter and committed to having a no-deforestation supply chain (no target date). (June 2021)
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HP — Announced new goals structured across 3 areas (April 2021):
- Carbon emissions: Achieve net-zero emissions across its value chain by 2040; achieve operational carbon neutrality by 2025; Reduce value chain emissions by 50% by 2030 (2019 baseline); Achieve carbon neutrality within its supplies business by 2030
- Circularity: Reach zero waste in operations by 2025; Reach 75% circularity for products and packaging by 2030
- Forests: Maintain zero deforestation for HP paper and paper-based packaging; Counteract deforestation for non-HP paper used in its products and print services by 2030
The Hershey Company announced new 2030 goals, including reducing absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions over 50% and absolute Scope 3 emissions by 25% compared to 2018 levels. Additionally, it committed to ending deforestation across its supply chain and making 100% of its plastic packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable. (March 2021)
BNP Paribas will stop financing customers producing or buying beef or soybeans cultivated on deforested land in the Amazon cleared or converted after 2008. The bank will also encourage clients not to purchase or produce beef or soybeans from land in Brazil’s Cerrado region cleared or converted after 2019. In a first for international banks, the firm will also now require traceability of beef and soy channels for all its clients and only provide financial products or services to companies (producers, meat conditioners and traders) with a zero deforestation strategy in their production and supply chains by 2025. (February 2021)
Procter & Gamble shareholders have approved a proposal that requires the company to publish a report detailing its efforts to combat deforestation. In the report, the company will assess “if and how it could increase the scale, pace and rigor of its efforts to eliminate deforestation and the degradation of intact forests in its supply chains.” (October 2020)
Mars Inc. has achieved a deforestation-free palm oil supply chain. (October 2020)
International Paper announced its Vision 2030 goals, which include commitments to source 100% of fiber from sustainably managed forests or recovered fiber. (Feb 2020)
HP Inc. pledged to make every page printed with HP products forest positive, carbon neutral, and part of a circular economy. (2019)
Conservation, Reforestation & Restoration
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DOVE — Unilever brand Dove launched a new initiative, the Dove Nature Regeneration Project, in partnership with the Rimba Collective, a consumer goods manufacturers’ sustainability collaboration. This project aims to protect and restore 123,000 acres (49,800 hectares) of forests over 5 years, while supporting 8,000 people in local communities through job creation, and access to education, healthcare, clean water, and sanitation. (July 2023)
ASTRAZENECA — Announced a $400 million investment in reforestration and biodiversity. This expands the company’s initial commitment (from 2020), and now commits it to plant 200 million trees by 2030 and ensure their long-term survival. This includes new or expanded projects in Brazil, India, Vietnam, Ghana and Rwanda that span over 100,000 hectares worldwide and aim to remove 30 million metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere over 30 years. (July 2023)
NESTLÉ — Announced plans to pilot new satellite technology from Airbus, Pléiades Neo, to monitor its reforestation efforts. The satellite offers an optical 30cm resolution creating ”very high-resolution images,” which will help Nestlé demonstrate the health of its reforestation programs and the amount of carbon sequestered. As a start, Pléiades Neo will observe a 150,000-shade tree reforestation project in Thailand over 20 years, and depending on the experience, Nestlé may expand the approach globally. (May 2023)
The Valuing Nature Blueprint (Dow) — Developed with Dow’s long-time partner, The Nature Conservancy, to guide companies and stakeholders through the steps Dow used to establish a business case for integrating nature conservation across the company and undertaking collaborations to improve ecosystem and community impacts where the company operates. Case studies and learnings are drawn from efforts underpinning Dow’s Valuing Nature goal, which has achieved more than half its $1 billion target of “delivering value through business-driven projects that enhance nature.” (May 2022)
MASTERCARD (CEF MEMBER) — Announced that bonuses for all employees, not just for executives, would be determined by the company’s “performance on three ESG priorities: carbon neutrality, financial inclusion and gender pay parity.” It also expanded the scope of its Priceless Planet Coalition, adding 15 new restoration areas across six continents with the goal of restoring 100 million trees by 2025. (April 2022)
ORANGE GROUP — Partnered with asset manager Mirova to launch a $57 million "Orange Nature" carbon fund that finances global reforestation and ecological restoration projects. The fund’s returns will only be in the form of high-quality carbon credits, and it will have a joint investment agreement with the Nature+ Accelerator Fund for other investment choices. Orange Group will use the credits to capture its residual carbon emissions. (Dec 2021)
LEAF Coalition —
The public-private partnership has
met its goal of mobilizing $1 billion for countries and states committed to increasing ambition to protect tropical forests. CEF member companies
Amazon, BlackRock, McKinsey,
and Unilever are among the coalition’s participants. (Nov 2021)
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HP — Pledged $80 million
to expand its partnership with WWF
and address the forest impacts of 17 million metric tons of paper used in commercial and consumer HP printers over 10 years—the equivalent of restoring, protecting, and sustainably managing
nearly 1 million acres of forest. HP is now WWF’s largest US corporate partner to date and the first company to pilot science-based forest targets through WWF’s new methodology, which estimates printing impacts on forests. WWF also joined
HP’s Sustainable Forest Collaborative. (Nov 2021)
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LOGITECH —
Committed to
investing in a multi-year carbon sequestration project that will plant over 40 million trees,
as part of its net-zero goal. (Sept 2021)
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DOVE (Unilever) — Announced the Dove Forest Restoration Project, a $12 million, 5-year effort to protect and restore 20,000 hectares of forest (approximately double the size of Paris) in North Sumatra, Indonesia.
The project, in collaboration with
Conservation International, will also seek to protect endangered species’ habitats and improve livelihoods of the indigenous population. (June 2021)
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UNILEVER — Announced a new “Positive Beauty” strategy, including a commitment to remove the word “normal” from all packaging and advertising. The strategy also includes commitments to (March 2021):
- Impact the lives of 1 billion people per year by 2030 through actions that improve health and wellbeing and advance equity and inclusion
- Support a global ban on animal testing for cosmetics by 2023
- Protect and regenerate 1.5 million hectares of land, forests, and oceans by 2030, which is more land than is required to grow the renewable ingredients in Unilever’s beauty and personal care products
Partners of the Sustainable Coffee Challenge — which include McDonalds, Starbucks, Walmart, and over 100 other companies and nonprofits — pledged to reduce their collective CO2 emissions by at least 1.5 gigatons by 2050. In addition, partners of the consortium pledged to protect 1.2 million acres of forest over the next five years and implement labor-related initiatives to protect and benefit smallholder farmers. (January 2021)
Amazon committed $10 million to restore and conserve 4 million acres of forest land across the Appalachian Mountains, in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy. The investment is expected to achieve a net reduction of up to 18.5 million metric tons of CO2 in the atmosphere by 2031. (April 2020)
Mastercard launched the Priceless Planet Coalition, a platform to “unite corporate sustainability efforts and make meaningful investments to preserve the environment.” As part of the platform, the company and its nine partner organizations — including Citibank, L.L. Bean, New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and American Airlines — have pledged to plant 100 million trees in 5 years. (Jan 2020)
Amazon announced a set of new sustainability commitments, which include plans to invest $100 million to restore and protect forests, wetlands, and peatlands. (2019)
Fashion brand Gucci announced that it has achieved carbon neutrality in its own operations and the entire supply chain. The company is offsetting all of its remaining GHG emissions annually through “four critically important REDD+1 projects that support forest conservation around the world.” (2019)
HP Inc. has committed $11 million to help restore, protect, and conserve 200,000 acres of forest across Brazil and China, in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The company also committed to support WWF’s efforts in developing science-based targets for forests, estimating carbon and nature co-benefits of forest restoration, and improved forest management. (2019)
Research
Business Impact on Global Forests
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Primary forests declined by 3.7 million hectares in the tropics in 2023, about 9% less than the previous year, according to the World Resource Institute’s Global Forest Watch platform. Losses declined significantly in Brazil and Colombia (13% and 49% respectively compared to 2022), however, these were counteracted by significant increases in Bolivia, Indonesia, and other countries. (April 2024)
Forest Pathways Report 2023 (WWF) — In 2022, global deforestation reached 6.6 million hectares, 4% higher than in 2021, with primary tropical forest loss at 4.1 million hectares. Only $2.2 billion in public funds are currently focused on forests each year, less than 1% of what goes to environmentally harmful subsidies. This report calls for increasing financial support of forests as well as 1) Ending forest-harming investments and subsidies; 2) Reforming the rules of global trade that harm forests; 3) Accelerating the recognition of land rights to Indigenous peoples; and 4) Making the shift toward nature-based economies. (Oct 2023)
Forest Investor Club 2023 Annual Report (Forest Investor Club (FIC)) — This first annual report for FIC assesses barriers to scaling investment in forests and nature, introduces the FIC and its theory of change, and describes how the FIC fits within the broader landscape of initiatives working on solutions and progress made since its inception. It highlights insights for effective nature-based solutions (NbS) investment through seven case studies of strategies led by FIC members, including by CEF member Apple. (Sept 2023)
Only 13.3% of tropical timber and pulp companies are publicly providing evidence of monitoring deforestation within their own operations, and only 4.3% monitor their supplier’s operations, according to new data from SPOTT, a conservation initiative from ZSL (Zoological Society of London). SPOTT notes this means few of these companies are prepared for the implementation of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) in December 2024 (which requires ensuring imported materials have not caused deforestation after December 2020). (Aug 2023)
The Global Land Squeeze: Managing the Growing Competition for Land (World Resources Institute (WRI)) — As population and consumer demand grows, more land will be needed for agriculture, wood, and cities. This report estimates that under a business-as-usual scenario, 600 million hectares (Mha) of new agricultural land will be needed by 2050, and 80 Mha will be needed for cities. Wood demand will grow 54%, including an 88% growth in industrial wood harvest and a 22% growth in fuelwood (requiring 600 Mha of secondary forest in addition to 200 Mha of existing plantations). The report offers four pillars to address the global land squeeze: Produce-Protect-Reduce-Restore. (July 2023)
- Produce more food and fiber on existing agricultural lands and forests.
- Protect remaining natural and semi-natural ecosystems from conversion and degradation.
- Reduce projected growth in demand for land-intensive goods (such as meat), particularly by high consumers.
- And restore degraded ecosystems and marginal agricultural land (with limited improvement potential) back to nature.
The carbon costs of global wood harvests (Nature, World Resources Institute) — Finds that global wood harvests likely emit 3.5 to 4.2 billion tons of CO2e per year, but that these emissions are typically not counted in scientific papers and public policies. The emission numbers result from a new accounting method developed at the World Resources Institute; the emissions identified amount to over 10% of recent global annual emissions of CO2. The new method accounts for complications related to regrowth of forests due to agricultural abandonment, recovery from previous harvests and climate change. The study also finds that emissions from wood harvests will increase by roughly one-third, from around 3 billion tons in 2010 to around 5 billion tons in 2050. The alternative emissions accounting could create new opportunities to reduce emissions, through reduction in the use of wood for energy, harvesting larger trees in the tropics in ways that kill fewer smaller trees, and increasing the growth rate of already existing plantation forests. (July 2023)
Global Forests Report 2023 (CDP) — Reports that over 60% of companies disclosed some level of risk related to deforestation, but less than 10% have a strong public commitment to end deforestation by 2025. The report also finds that (July 2023):
- The number of companies reporting their management of deforestation risk has risen 300% since 2017.
- Around 90% of disclosing companies are not prepared for the transition to a deforestation-free future, despite existing & incoming regulation from the UK and EU.
- On average companies face losses of $330m due to risk exposure, yet the cost of dealing with this risk is only $17.4 million.
- Of the four sectors with the highest impacts on forests, the retail sector performs most poorly in putting deforestation commitments into practice.
- North American firms are the most exposed to forest-related risks due to poor performance on addressing deforestation.
Tropical primary forest loss in 2022 totaled 4.1 million hectares, 10% more loss than in 2021, according to WRI’s Global Forest Watch platform. This loss produced 2.7 gigatons of CO2 emissions (equivalent to India’s annual fossil fuel emissions). About 43% of the loss came from Brazil, where losses increased 15% over the previous year, and from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which made up about 13% of the loss. Ghana, Bolivia, and Angola increased the rate of forest loss by over 50% in 2022. Indonesia, while a significant driver of forest loss in recent years, kept forest loss relatively low (0.1 million hectares) in 2022, 64% less than in 2021. Government policies, increased fire prevention and monitoring, and law enforcement contributed to these reductions. (July 2023)
Forest 500: 2023: A Watershed Year for Action on Deforestation (Global Canopy) — Finds that 40% of the 350 companies and 150 financial institutions with the most exposure to, and influence on, tropical deforestation still have not set a single policy on deforestation. This ninth annual report also found that human rights scores of companies fell 7% (with updated scoring criteria, including on Indigenous rights and zero-tolerance for violence against forest defenders). 31% of companies also had no supply chain commitments for commodities to which they’re exposed, while 29% had commitments in place for all commodities for which they were assessed. 61% of financial firms have no deforestation policies covering their lending and investments, a slight improvement from the 63% from 2022. (Feb 2023)
Policy Assessment 2022: Is Your Money Destroying Rainforests or Violating Rights? (Forests & Finance Coalition) — Banks and investors substantially “increased their backing of companies in the agriculture, forestry and land use sectors most responsible for deforestation in 2021,” with finance to those companies rising over 60% to $47 billion between 2020-2021. Since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015 banks have provided $267 billion in credit to just 300 forest-risk commodity companies operating in the world’s three largest tropical forest regions. Based on an assessment of 200 banks and investors, the report finds that the majority of banks and investors involved lack sufficient ESG policies and have “no policies to prevent deforestation, peat degradation, fires, or uphold human rights… or to prevent forced or child labor.” The average financial institution assessed scored 1.6 out of 10 based on publicly available ESG policies, with 59% of institutions scoring under 1 and just three scoring 7 or higher. (Oct 2022)
Four countries were responsible for 80% of deforestation caused by mining: Brazil, Indonesia, Ghana, and Suriname, concludes a new study that examined 26 countries between 2000 and 2019. The deforestation was caused both by the mines and tailings storage facilities, as well as to build access roads and miner settlements. While at least 70% of deforestation is driven by agriculture, industrial mining’s contribution is expected to grow as the energy transition increases demands for minerals. Globally, mines now extract more than twice the amount of raw materials than in 2000. (Sept 2022)
Measuring Progress Towards a Sustainable Palm Oil Supply Chain (CDP) — This fourth report iteration reviews the latest corporate performance in separating palm oil sourcing and production from deforestation in Indonesia. Found that only 22% of the 167 companies that self-reported sourcing or producing palm oil in Indonesia have implemented public and comprehensive no deforestation policies. Key findings include (Aug 2022):
- Only 2% of companies producing or sourcing palm oil in Indonesia are using “deforestation-free compliant third party verified schemes” covering 90% of their production.
- 87% of companies have implemented traceability systems. However, only a quarter have the capacity to scale these to 90% of their production and consumption at least to the municipality level.
- Only 35% of companies are providing financial and technical assistance to direct suppliers and only 53% are engaging beyond first tier suppliers.
- Only 14% of companies are involved in “jurisdictional” or landscape approaches to reduce deforestation from their operations. This increased from 8% in 2020.
Why Net Zero Needs Zero Deforestation Now (UN Climate Change High-Level Climate Champions, Global Canopy, The Accountability Framework initiative, WWF and the Science Based Targets initiative)— Initial analysis commissioned by the UN-backed Race to Zero conveys the imperative for forest, land, and agriculture companies—the second highest emitting industry after energy—to achieve a deforestation-free supply chain if they are to get to net zero, and documents progress to date. (July 2022)
- 148 major forest, land and agriculture companies have committed to net zero, however the scores from an in-depth assessment known as “Forest 500" shows that only 9 (6%) are making “strong progress” on deforestation, and 94% risk not achieving their climate commitments.
- Among the companies demonstrating meaningful progress are CEF member companies PepsiCo Inc. and Unilever, as well as Nestlé, Mars, Colgate-Palmolive, and Brazilian paper and pulp producer Suzano.
- According to the analysis, companies participating in the Race to Zero perform over 15% better on Forest 500 scores than those not in the Race to Zero.
Rainforest Action Network (RAN) released its annual ranking of major brands and banks on human rights- and forest-related risks associated with commodities produced in the world’s remaining tropical rainforests. According to RAN's analysis, none of the 17 brands and banks evaluated have taken sufficient action to address challenges in supply chains, including deforestation, land disputes, and violence against local and Indigenous communities. While some improvements were noted over past years, only Unilever (a CEF member) was recognized for adopting a “credible policy to address its impact across all forest-risk commodity supply chains” and disclosing its initial forest footprint. (June 2022)
Current actions by industries such as timber, cattle, and palm oil fail to align with COP26 deforestation commitments, according to a joint study by CDP and the Accountability Framework initiative (AFi). The report based its conclusions on data from CDP’s 2021 forests questionnaire, which collected disclosures from 675 companies that produce at least one of the seven commodities responsible for most commodity-related deforestation. Key takeaways include (May 2022):
- Deforestation poses a large financial risk to companies: 211 of the companies surveyed identified almost $80 billion of forest-related risks. The report estimated the complete cost of mitigating those risks at only $6.7 billion.
- 36% of companies have public company-wide no-deforestation or no-ecosystem-conversion policies, but only 13% have commitments aligned with good practice.
- The majority of companies do not have sufficient traceability (77%) or monitoring systems (74%) throughout their supply chains to implement forest-related commitments or assess progress against them.
- Only 19 companies surveyed have a target of sourcing 100% certified no-deforestation commodities and report achieving or approaching that target.
The World Resources Institute’s new Global Forest Review reveals that tropical forest loss in 2021 remained high at 11.1 million hectares lost, consistent with the previous three years. Of that total, 3.75 hectares had been tropical primary forest, which serve as huge carbon sinks and centers of very high biodiversity. The GHG emissions from the year’s loss of the tropical primary forest alone is estimated at 2.5 gigatons—the equivalent of India’s total emissions for the same period. These heavy losses, driven mainly by human-caused deforestation, undermine the commitments of 141 countries that have committed to halt and reduce forest loss by 2030 under the 2021 Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use. (May 2022)
The Unseen Effects of Deforestation: Biophysical Effects on Climate
(Frontiers in Forests and Global Change) —
Analyzes the biophysical mechanisms by which forests influence the climate, uncovering evidence of previously overlooked benefits of global forests beyond carbon sinks, and elevating the negative consequences of deforestation. Suggests forests, most significantly tropical forests, play a vital role not only in climate change mitigation but also adaption due to their ability to cool the air and protect local inhabitants from droughts, extreme heat and floods caused by the climate breakdown.
Coverage by The Guardian. (March 2022)
Forest 500 report (Global Canopy, Jan 2022) — Assesses and ranks “the policies and performance of the 350 most influential companies and 150 financial institutions linked to deforestation in their supply chains and investments.” The report warns that companies that don’t act against deforestation now “will struggle to implement” new due diligence requirements in the U.S., the U.K., and the EU. Key findings:
- 28% of companies have policies covering all commodities to which they are exposed.
- Only 38% of financial institutions have a clear policy to address deforestation risks in their portfolios.
- 22 financial institutions have net-zero commitments but finance companies that don’t have deforestation commitments.
MORE »
Tools, Guidance & Case Studies
Addressing Deforestation
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Forest 500: A decade of deforestation data (Global Canopy) — Along with exploring 2023 data, this latest Forest 500 report sets out ten lessons for enabling and accelerating action on deforestation, based on ten years of tracking forest industry data. The ten lessons: 1) Voluntary action from companies isn’t enough; 2) Regulation is needed for the finance sector; 3) Human rights must be better embedded; 4) Pressure must be applied to all companies; 5) Commitments are never enough; 6) Transparent reporting remains essential; 7) Deforestation must be recognized as central to the climate agenda; 8) Public pressure leads to action; 9) More attention must be placed on cattle; and 10) Some financial institutions are showing that rapid progress is possible. (March 2024)
CTrees launched Land Use Change Alert (LUCA), the world’s first global radar-based forest disturbance alert system. Leveraging data from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel 1 radar satellite system, this free alert system monitors all forms of deforestation and degradation, providing “near-real-time information” on forests around the world. LUCA also includes historical data back to January 2018.
What Drives and Stops Deforestation, Reforestation, and Forest Degradation? An Updated Meta-Analysis (Review of Environmental Economics and Policy) — This journal article updates a meta-analysis on deforestation from 2017, adding six additional years of research and doubling the evidence base. It finds that deforestation is consistently associated with greater accessibility (e.g. roads and cities) and with higher economic returns (from agriculture, livestock, and timber). Some demographic variables are consistently associated with less deforestation (e.g., Indigenous people, poverty, and age) or more deforestation (e.g., population), and others are not associated with the level of deforestation (e.g., education and gender). Policies that influence allowable land-use activities (e.g. protected areas, enforcement of forest laws, payment for ecosystem services, and certification of sustainable commodities) are associated with less deforestation. Greater population is consistently associated with more forest degradation, whereas steeper slope, greater distance from cities, and lower population are consistently associated with more reforestation. (Aug 2023)
Forest Positive Commodity Roadmaps (The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) Forest Positive Coalition of Action) — The Forest Positive Coalition released implementation guidance for two commodities: soy, and paper, pulp, and Fiber-based packaging (PPP). This new guidance provides technical advice and practical information for any business striving to source its commodities responsibly and sustainably. The Soy and PPP Roadmaps also include specific actions around addressing deforestation and conversion risks in high-risk and high-priority sourcing landscapes. (Feb 2023)
Logged Tropical Forests Have Amplified and Diverse Ecosystem Energetics (Nature) — While typically seen as degraded ecosystems, logged tropical forests can be ecologically vibrant and diverse. The research found that a wide diversity of species thrive, with more food available and more species present than in pristine rainforests. This happens as forests shift from the chemical defense of standing trees to rapid growth, which creates a boon for insects and all animals that feed on them. The research demonstrates the value of conserving logged and other “structurally ‘degraded’ forests” and preventing their conversion to agriculture or other land uses. (Feb 2023)
TCFD Climate Scenario Tool for Food, Agriculture and Forest Products (WBCSD) — This new tool provides a method for companies to assess potential risks and opportunities, specific to food, agriculture, and forest products sectors, from society’s response to climate change. The tool offers outputs covering business, land use, and environmental factors across 23 crop, animal product, and forest product commodities and 18 regions. This complements WBCSD’s existing Energy Climate Scenario Tool. (Dec 2022)
Forest Sector Nature-Positive Roadmap (Phase I) — Released by WBCSD’s Forest Solutions Group, this first phase of a forest sector roadmap offers a shared definition of “nature-positive” that is grounded in comprehensive actions to halt and reverse nature loss along the full life cycle of forest products. This definition will serve as a foundation for subsequent guidance and tools to support forest companies in the implementation of nature-positive strategies, and to help transform the forest sector and broader economic system in which they operate. (Nov 2022)
Collective Action and Investment in Landscape Initiatives
(The Consumer Goods Forum’s Forest Positive Coalition of Action) — This new report advocates for corporate investment in production landscapes worldwide to combat commodity-driven deforestation, forest conversion, and degradation while promoting inclusion and improving the livelihoods of local communities.
It shares insights from the experiences of the Coalition’s 21 manufacturer and retailer members, and calls for Coalition members and other companies to invest in initiatives in these landscapes. CEF members PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever are part of this coalition.
(Nov 2022)
Forests for Climate: Scaling up Forest Conservation to Reach Net Zero, published by the World Economic Forum, makes the case for private-sector investment in entire landscape approaches to protect forests. Nature-based solutions, which include forest conservation and restoration, can deliver one-third of the mitigation needed to keep the planet on a 1.5°C trajectory, but funding for these solutions needs to triple from its current level of $133 billion to $400 billion by 2030. (Sept 2022)
Trees at Work: Driving Conservation, Equity and Empowerment Through Urban and Community Forestry (Wildlife Habitat Council) — Provides case studies exploring how 10 global corporations, including CEF members General Motors and Waste Management, have “utilized community forestry work to provide biodiversity uplift, ecosystem services and resident empowerment” across a range of communities. (March 2022)
“Deforestation Monitoring and Response Framework” (Consumer Goods Forum Forest Positive Coalition of Action) — A new framework developed with support from Proforest to help companies monitor and address non-compliance with “No Deforestation” or “No Peat” commitments that is linked to palm oil supply chains. (March 2022)
Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) Forest Positive Coalition of Action — Released a new Beef Roadmap for coalition members to address forest degradation and conversion in their beef supply chains. The CEOs of CEF members PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever belong to the coalition. (Feb 2022)
Collective Action: Corporate Engagement in Landscape and Jurisdictional Approaches (CDP) — Outlines a pathway for companies to implement a landscape and jurisdictional approach to fulfill their deforestation targets and nature commitments, wherein companies, governments, and local stakeholders take collective action toward a collective goal that tackles deforestation as well as social issues. Only 5% of companies that answered CDP’s Forest questionnaire are engaging with this approach. (Dec 2021)
Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) Forest Positive Coalition of Action
—
The CEO-led coalition representing 20 companies with a collective market value of over $1.8 trillion (launched in 2020)
issued its first
annual report, which includes a
new set of 3 member-aligned KPIs for driving toward a forest-positive future that are set against the coalition’s
commodity-specific roadmaps. The companies—which include CEF members
PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble,
and Unilever—also
shared in the report their individual and collective progress in publicly reporting on those KPIs. (Sept 2021)
MORE »
Emergent,
Forest Trends,
the UN Environment Programme, and the
Environmental Defense Fund, released a
white paper that asserts
scaling tropical forest protection is essential to fulfilling the 1.5° Celsius pathway and argues business should prioritize actions that help stop deforestation over purchasing carbon offsets.
(July 2021)
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Taking Root: Embarking on the Forest Positive Journey (The Consumer Goods Forum Forest Positive Coalition of Action) —
Outlines the Forest Positive Coalition’s cross-sector approach to ending commodity-driven deforestation
by transforming the production and supply of 4 key commodity sectors: palm oil, soy, beef, and paper, pulp and fiber-based packaging. (April 2021)
Forestry
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Forest Carbon Planetary Variable (Planet Labs) — Announced plans to release a dataset that will provide insights into forest changes and carbon capture. It will provide quarterly updates of aboveground forest carbon at 3-meter resolution (in 2024), based on “deep learning models trained on a massive library of airborne LiDAR” (Light Detection and Ranging). A 30-meter resolution product will be released later this year. (Aug 2023)
Forestry-Backed Assets Design (Singapore Green Finance Centre) — Bundling forest investments across forest ages, geographies, and ecosystems can reduce investment risk by half or more. The report novelly applies the common practice of “risk pooling” to forestry projects, yielding greater financial returns while mitigating weather hazards and wildfire risk (as well as forests’ varying ability to sequester carbon over time and meet biodiversity targets). The paper also finds that forestry projects in the tropics have both high carbon capture potential and biodiversity restoration potential, making these the most attractive location for forest carbon investors in the future. (Feb 2023)
Global Seed Bank Index (Terraformation) — This first global review of seed banks around the world lays the groundwork for a strategy to create a global decentralized seed banking network and accelerate restoration efforts around the globe. Key findings include (Sept 2022):
- While 410 seed banks across 96 countries store native species for ecosystem restoration, more are needed in almost all countries;
- More than half of the world’s countries have no known seed banks;
- Establishing larger regional seed banks could help meet the need for seeds more efficiently;
- The restoration movement will also need to train hundreds of thousands of new seed collectors to preserve and restore threatened biodiversity;
- The tropics and biodiversity hotspots are the highest priority locations for additional seed banking capacity given their high impact on biodiversity and climate regulation.
Ambitious Climate Mitigation Pathways for U.S. Agriculture and Forestry: Vision for 2030, a new report from Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) with economic analysis from ICF, provides a roadmap for how farms, ranches, and forests can get the U.S. 17% of the way toward its 2030 goal of cutting national emissions in half. The report sets the first science-based targets for reduced emissions from U.S. agriculture and increased carbon storage from U.S. forestry, and identifies the most effective, lowest-cost pathways to achieve those targets. By 2030, U.S. farms and ranches can cut agricultural emissions by 23%, and U.S. forests can boost carbon storage by 43% compared to 2018 levels, according to the report. (Sept 2022)
CTrees — The non-profit CTrees will launch the first ever digital platform for calculating the carbon in every tree on the planet at COP27. The platform offers high-accuracy, AI-enabled satellite data products that allow countries, jurisdictions, the private sector, and civil society to measure, report, and verify both carbon emissions and removals from all types of forests. CTrees will help stakeholders engaged in the carbon market to understand carbon emissions potential of forest investments. (Sept 2022)
“Pension Fund Investment in Forestry” (World Bank) presents an overview of forestry as an asset class and outlines the mechanics, challenges, and business case for forestry investments. (March 2021)
Corporate demand for nature-based solutions to climate change focused on reforestation and afforestation could generate $800 billion in annual revenues by 2050, according to a UN Principles of Responsible Investment report. (November 2020)
“The Business of Planting Trees: A Growing Investment Opportunity” (World Resources Institute and The Nature Conservancy, 2018) highlights 14 companies that are participating in the landscape restoration economy, with some positioned to grow revenues up to 10 times annually. The report also identifies four emerging themes in the landscape restoration economy: technology, consumer products, project management, and commercial forestry.
Decarbonizing the Forest Value Chain
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Catalogue of Key Decarbonization Actions (Forest Solutions Group (FSG)) — This Phase II of the Forest Sector Net-Zero Roadmap, released by FSG of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), is designed to support forest companies in the choice and implementation of actions to decarbonize their operations and value chains and leverage the greatest opportunities for carbon removals. The Catalogue details ten high-impact decarbonization actions to address carbon-intensive stages along the lifecycle of three different types of forest products: engineered wood products, paper-based consumer packaging, and cellulose-based textiles. The guide includes an overview, climate and business impacts, co-benefits and side-effects, and practical implementation advice for the ten actions. (Dec 2023)
Collaboration
Forests Collaboration
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The Deforestation-Free Call to Action for Leather — This new effort, co-led by Textile Exchange and the Leather Working Group, asks brands across sectors to commit to sourcing their bovine leather from deforestation/conversion-free supply chains by 2030 or earlier. It provides tools and guidance to support brands, including a two-phase roadmap, focused on 1) Supply Chain Readiness, and 2) Sourcing. Brands that support the call to action will be expected to make a public commitment and plan within six months. Among others, brands that have already signed on include Adidas, Puma, H&M, Tapestry, and BMW Group. (June 2023)
LEAF Coalition — This public-private initiative aiming to end tropical deforestation announced it has increased the total amount of financial commitments for the purchase of high-integrity emissions reductions credits to over $1.5 billion, double the amount since COP26. Volkswagen and H&M have become the latest global companies to join the LEAF Coalition, bringing the total to more than 25. (Nov 2022)
Seed to Forest Alliance — Terraformation, a global forest carbon accelerator, launched the Seed to Forest Alliance, along with founding partners American Forests, Ecosystem Restoration Camps and One Tree Planted, and advisory partner 1t.org US. The Alliance supports biodiverse, native reforestation by providing a network to connect forestry teams with financial and technical support. Members, including corporates, NGOs, and philanthropists, will contribute to research and thought leadership to accelerate reforestation, and share results, best practices and expertise to help the reforestation movement overcome the largest bottlenecks to scale. The alliance will initially focus on expanding seed supplies, which are inadequate to plant the 3.6 billion trees global corporations have committed to planting in their sustainability plans. (Sept 2022)
27 COMPANIES’ SOY COMMITMENT —
27 UK companies representing nearly 60% of all UK soy bought annually—including CEF member
McDonald’s—signed a new
UK Soy Manifesto, which includes a commitment to ensure by 2025 that physical soy shipments to the U.K. aren't linked to deforestation or grown in areas where native vegetation was converted into farmland. (Nov 2021)
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The CEOs of 10 global companies managing a “major global market share” of forest-risk commodities (e.g., palm oil, soy)
pledged to create a shared roadmap for supply chain action
that
eliminates commodity-driven deforestation
and is
consistent with a 1.5°C pathway. The roadmap, to be created by COP27, will aim to increase transparency around Scope 3 emissions and indirect supply chains, and improve farmer livelihoods. Signatories include CEF member
ADM. (Nov 2021)
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Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) Forest Positive Coalition of Action — Launched the first phase of its
strategy
to collectively drive forest-positive change in areas equal to the size of its combined production-base footprint by 2030. All members of the CEO-led coalition committed to investing annually through 2023 in at least one program from its Portfolio of Landscape Initiatives, which cover the production of palm oil, soy, paper, pulp and fiber-based packaging, and beef. CEF members
PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble,
and
Unilever
belong to the coalition. (Nov 2021)
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The World Wildlife Fund launched
"Forests Forward,"
a new program to help companies deliver nature-based strategies across 3 pillars: (1) landscape opportunities for climate, nature, and communities, (2) responsible supply chains, (3) and better forest management. Corporate program partners include
HP, Kimberly-Clark, Lowe’s, IKEA, and
Williams-Sonoma. (June 2021)
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Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance (LEAF) Coalition — A public-private initiative to mobilize more than $1 billion to protect tropical forests from deforestation, protect the rights of local Indigenous Peoples, and support sustainable development in emerging economies. Coordinated by nonprofit Emergent, it involves the U.S., the U.K, Norway, and corporate partners Amazon, Airbnb, Bayer, Boston Consulting Group, GSK, McKinsey, Nestlé Salesforce, and Unilever. (April 2021)
Rimba Collective — A new coalition backed by Nestle, PepsiCo, and Procter & Gamble aiming to invest $1 billion in forest conservation projects across Southeast Asia over 25 years. The initiative will fund projects protecting and restoring more than 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) of tropical forests in Indonesia and the region. (April 2021)
A group of 17 global consumer goods brands, retailers and manufacturers — including General Mills, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Walmart — have joined the Forest Positive Coalition of Action, an initiative to “engage and collaborate with producers, suppliers and traders, as well as governments and civil society, to advocate for forest positive solutions.” The coalition is led by The Consumer Goods Forum. (September 2020)
The World Economic Forum launched the U.S. chapter of 1t.org, a reforestation initiative aimed at uniting governments, NGOs, businesses, and civil society to grow and restore 1 trillion trees around the world. A group of 26 U.S.-based organizations — including Bank of America, Mastercard, Microsoft, and Salesforce — have pledged to conserve, restore, and grow more than 855 million trees as part of the initiative. (August 2020)
The World Economic Forum launched 1t.org, a reforestation initiative aimed at uniting governments, NGOs, businesses, and civil society to grow and restore 1 trillion trees around the world. (Jan 2020)
Nonprofit XPRIZE partnered with Kimberly-Clark to create the Future of Forests Impact Roadmap, which identifies 10 breakthroughs for achieving a better future for forests and humankind. The roadmap is based on a literature review of existing forest research, interviews with dozens of experts in the field, and engaged stakeholders from more than 90 organizations. (2019)