CGF’s Forest Positive Coalition of Action launches strategy to reduce climate footprint

PARIS and GLASGOW — The Consumer Goods Forum’s (CGF) Forest Positive Coalition of Action launched an ambitious strategy for driving transformational, forest positive change in the regions where the Coalition’s key commodities are produced and sourced by 2030. Engagement in these landscapes is a key element of the Coalition’s Theory of Change, complementing its focus on sustainable supply chain management and the development of forest positive businesses throughout global value chains. By collaborating with local stakeholders, organisations, and governments to support these initiatives, the Coalition seeks to use its influence as 20 of the world’s leading retailers and manufacturers to catalyse wider transformation in commodity supply chains, production landscapes and jurisdictions worldwide.

Leveraging this influence, Coalition members are working to collectively transform areas equivalent to the size of the Coalition’s combined production-base footprint by 2030. Each Coalition member has committed to investing in local-level initiatives driving forest conservation, ecosystem restoration, and community inclusion in the production of the Coalition’s four key commodities: palm oil, soy, paper, pulp and fibre-based packaging, and beef.

The strategy will commence with a “Learning Phase” through 2023 in which all Coalition members will invest annually in at least one programme selected from the Coalition’s “Learning Through Action” Portfolio of Landscape Initiatives. This Portfolio currently includes 20 programmes driving forest positive outcomes in six countries: Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Russia, Indonesia and Malaysia.

The Coalition is using its production-base footprint — a neutral estimate to represent the Coalition’s impact and leverage in commodity production — to determine the size of its ambition. The Coalition is currently calculating the size of its footprint across its focus commodities in partnership with 3Keel, and with the expert guidance of organisations like the World Wildlife Fund, the Accountability Framework initiative, and The Nature Conservancy. This calculation and the methodology will be released once completed and is expected to be updated periodically.

This Landscape ambition is the result of the work of dedicated members of the CGF Forest Positive Coalition led by manufacturer PepsiCo and retailer Tesco with the support of the Coalition’s CGF Board-level Co-sponsors, Alexandre Bompard, CEO and Chairman, Carrefour, and Grant F. Reid, CEO, Mars, Incorporated. The Coalition is being supported by the Tropical Forest Alliance and Proforest as strategic and technical partners.

Ken Murphy, CEO, Tesco, and CGF Board Member, said, “All of the members of the Forest Positive Coalition of Action are at different stages of their forest positive journey, but we all share the same goal of halting deforestation and supporting the people and communities that call these vital habitats their home. The launch of our collective landscape ambition is the output of many months of learning, best-practice sharing and stakeholder engagement. We now look forward to turning these learnings into actions which will have a direct, sustainable impact on the geographies where our commodities are sourced from.”