Forest Positive Coalition: Global Giants Unite for Sustainable Commodity Production
The Forest Positive Coalition of Action, a group under the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) that comprises 21 leading global consumer goods companies, has released its most recent Annual Report. The report highlights advancements in their joint efforts to eliminate deforestation, forest degradation, and conversion from crucial commodity supply chains.
The report, titled ‘Perspectives on Progress: Challenges and Insights on the Way to Forest Positive’, celebrates three years of the Coalition’s implementation of its Theory of Change. This strategy emphasizes sourcing deforestation and conversion-free goods within members’ supply chains, aiding suppliers in doing the same, and striving to convert commodity production landscapes into forest positive areas.
The report was unveiled at the CGF’s Sustainable Retail Summit in Copenhagen and outlines progress, challenges, and insights in safeguarding the climate, nature, and communities. Key points include:
Enhanced reporting on key commodities: Coalition members have improved their reporting across four commodities - palm oil, soy, beef, and paper, pulp and fibre-based packaging. The overall KPI disclosure this year is 77%, up from 64% last year. These improvements have been facilitated by members implementing new guidance to align best practices with stakeholders across the value chain, collaborating with certification schemes, and leveraging technology.
Increased action on grievance monitoring: The Coalition has made significant strides in grievance monitoring – a process designed to alert businesses to potential instances of deforestation. The proportion of members reporting on actions to monitor their supply base has doubled compared to 2022, and the number of members who track steps taken against grievances has tripled. Technology has played a crucial role in this monitoring. For instance, Mondelēz International has been using satellite monitoring technology for deforestation and peat grievance tracking of its palm oil concessions.
Sustained focus on prioritising production landscapes: Beyond their own supply chains, members have intensified collective efforts on production landscapes where key commodities are sourced. These projects are supporting conservation and restoration while improving land tenure security, agricultural practices, and livelihoods. 78% of landscape initiatives are invested in by two or more Coalition members, demonstrating how members are collaborating with other corporates to protect forests.
For instance, Carrefour, Nestlé and METRO have been working on a landscapes initiative with Conservation International to drive low carbon regenerative agriculture production in Brazil. To date, the Coalition has supported approximately 18,000 smallholders across 1,000 communities worldwide through landscape-level action.
The Coalition consists of seven retail companies — Carrefour, Jerónimo Martins, METRO AG, Sainsbury’s, Sodexo, Tesco, and Walmart — along with 14 manufacturing firms — Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) Sinar Mas, Colgate-Palmolive Company, Danone, Essity, General Mills, Grupo Bimbo, Mars, Incorporated, Mondelēz International, Neste, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, Reckitt, and Unilever. Recently, IKEA has also become a part of the Forest Positive Coalition but is not included in the 2023 edition of the Annual Report.
The members of the Forest Positive Coalition collectively hold a market value exceeding US$1.8 trillion and account for 3% of the worldwide production of palm oil, soy, beef, and pulp, paper and fibre-based packaging.
“Our Coalition has made significant progress in vital areas such as transparency and grievance monitoring – but we know there is much more to do. Accountability is essential to delivering the pace and scale of change we want to see, and we are committed to openly sharing reflections and learnings. We will not drive transformative change without being able to truly measure the scale of the challenge before us and our status on the journey to forest positive,” said Wai-Chan Chan, Managing Director of The Consumer Goods Forum.
“Consumer goods companies have a direct responsibility for the world's forests – particularly given their reliance on nature to create products and goods. Being forest positive for us means sustainable economic development, improved livelihoods, and climate positive outcomes. We hope this report will inspire continued action a complex global challenge, recognising areas we need to learn from. The bottom line is that every consumer goods company must go further, faster to save the world’s forests,” said Noel Wallace, CEO, Colgate-Palmolive and Forest Positive Co-Sponsor.
“We cannot achieve a climate positive future without a forest positive future. The science is clear that forests play a critical role in maintaining life on Earth. Through storing carbon, forests are essential to fighting the climate emergency. And we know that they are vital for so many communities around the world. We continue to collaborate with producers, suppliers, and traders at all stages of the supply chain to combat this complex challenge.”
The report, titled ‘Perspectives on Progress: Challenges and Insights on the Way to Forest Positive’, celebrates three years of the Coalition’s implementation of its Theory of Change. This strategy emphasizes sourcing deforestation and conversion-free goods within members’ supply chains, aiding suppliers in doing the same, and striving to convert commodity production landscapes into forest positive areas.
The report was unveiled at the CGF’s Sustainable Retail Summit in Copenhagen and outlines progress, challenges, and insights in safeguarding the climate, nature, and communities. Key points include:
Enhanced reporting on key commodities: Coalition members have improved their reporting across four commodities - palm oil, soy, beef, and paper, pulp and fibre-based packaging. The overall KPI disclosure this year is 77%, up from 64% last year. These improvements have been facilitated by members implementing new guidance to align best practices with stakeholders across the value chain, collaborating with certification schemes, and leveraging technology.
Increased action on grievance monitoring: The Coalition has made significant strides in grievance monitoring – a process designed to alert businesses to potential instances of deforestation. The proportion of members reporting on actions to monitor their supply base has doubled compared to 2022, and the number of members who track steps taken against grievances has tripled. Technology has played a crucial role in this monitoring. For instance, Mondelēz International has been using satellite monitoring technology for deforestation and peat grievance tracking of its palm oil concessions.
Sustained focus on prioritising production landscapes: Beyond their own supply chains, members have intensified collective efforts on production landscapes where key commodities are sourced. These projects are supporting conservation and restoration while improving land tenure security, agricultural practices, and livelihoods. 78% of landscape initiatives are invested in by two or more Coalition members, demonstrating how members are collaborating with other corporates to protect forests.
For instance, Carrefour, Nestlé and METRO have been working on a landscapes initiative with Conservation International to drive low carbon regenerative agriculture production in Brazil. To date, the Coalition has supported approximately 18,000 smallholders across 1,000 communities worldwide through landscape-level action.
The Coalition consists of seven retail companies — Carrefour, Jerónimo Martins, METRO AG, Sainsbury’s, Sodexo, Tesco, and Walmart — along with 14 manufacturing firms — Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) Sinar Mas, Colgate-Palmolive Company, Danone, Essity, General Mills, Grupo Bimbo, Mars, Incorporated, Mondelēz International, Neste, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, Reckitt, and Unilever. Recently, IKEA has also become a part of the Forest Positive Coalition but is not included in the 2023 edition of the Annual Report.
The members of the Forest Positive Coalition collectively hold a market value exceeding US$1.8 trillion and account for 3% of the worldwide production of palm oil, soy, beef, and pulp, paper and fibre-based packaging.
“Our Coalition has made significant progress in vital areas such as transparency and grievance monitoring – but we know there is much more to do. Accountability is essential to delivering the pace and scale of change we want to see, and we are committed to openly sharing reflections and learnings. We will not drive transformative change without being able to truly measure the scale of the challenge before us and our status on the journey to forest positive,” said Wai-Chan Chan, Managing Director of The Consumer Goods Forum.
“Consumer goods companies have a direct responsibility for the world's forests – particularly given their reliance on nature to create products and goods. Being forest positive for us means sustainable economic development, improved livelihoods, and climate positive outcomes. We hope this report will inspire continued action a complex global challenge, recognising areas we need to learn from. The bottom line is that every consumer goods company must go further, faster to save the world’s forests,” said Noel Wallace, CEO, Colgate-Palmolive and Forest Positive Co-Sponsor.
“We cannot achieve a climate positive future without a forest positive future. The science is clear that forests play a critical role in maintaining life on Earth. Through storing carbon, forests are essential to fighting the climate emergency. And we know that they are vital for so many communities around the world. We continue to collaborate with producers, suppliers, and traders at all stages of the supply chain to combat this complex challenge.”
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