More companies are making commitments to limit their supply chains’ adverse effects on the world’s forests, but a new report by a watchdog group found many still fail to act on their pledges and that one in three companies has at least one “dormant” commitment.
With forest loss estimated to be responsible for 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and commercial agriculture the driver of at least two-thirds of tropical deforestation, companies are feeling pressure to limit their exposure to deforestation-linked commodities, notably palm, timber and pulp, soy, and cattle.
A growing number of firms are making voluntary commitments to delink their supply chains from forest-related activities by 2020 and 2030 through the Consumer Goods Forum and New York Declaration on Forests, which pledged to cut natural forest loss in half by 2020 and end it completely by 2030. But progress is slow and the majority of companies still have weak, incomplete policies dedicated to the issue, or no policy at all, as Devex has previously reported.
About the author
Sophie Edwards
Sophie Edwards is a Devex Contributing Reporter covering global education, water and sanitation, and innovative financing, along with other topics. She has previously worked for NGOs, and the World Bank, and spent a number of years as a journalist for a regional newspaper in the U.K. She has a master's degree from the Institute of Development Studies and a bachelor's from Cambridge University.
