The Consumer Goods Forum's Forest Positive Coalition of Action has published its 2023 annual report, saying that progress is being made on removing deforestation, forest degradation and conversion from key commodity supply chains.
The Coalition, which comprises 21 of the world's biggest retailers and consumer goods firms, said that members’ overall KPI disclosure has risen from 64% last year to 77% this year across priority commodities (palm oil, soy, beef and paper, pulp and fibre-based packaging), as part of ongoing commitment to greater transparency.
In addition, the proportion of members reporting on actions to monitor their supply base has doubled, and the number of members that are tracking steps taken to address grievances has tripled.
Technology has played an 'active part' in this monitoring, The Consumer Goods Forum said, with Coalition member Mondelēz International, for example, using satellite monitoring technology for deforestation and peat grievance tracking of its palm oil concessions.
The publication of the Coalition's report, entitled Perspectives on Progress: Challenges and Insights on the Way to Forest Positive, ties in with The Consumer Goods Forum Sustainable Retail Summit, which is taking place this week in Copenhagen.
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'Significant Progress'
“Our Coalition has made significant progress in vital areas such as transparency and grievance monitoring – but we know there is much more to do," commented Wai-Chan Chan, managing director of The Consumer Goods Forum.
"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.”
About The Coalition
The Forest Positive Coalition is made up of eight retailers — Carrefour, Jerónimo Martins, METRO AG, McDonald’s, Sainsbury’s, Sodexo, Tesco and Walmart — and 13 manufacturers — Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) Sinar Mas, Colgate-Palmolive Company, Danone, Essity, General Mills, Grupo Bimbo, Mars Incorporated, Mondelēz International, Neste, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Reckitt, and Unilever.
IKEA has recently joined the Forest Positive Coalition in and is therefore not featured in this 2023 edition of the annual report.
“Consumer goods companies have a direct responsibility for the world's forests – particularly given their reliance on nature to create products and goods," Chan added. "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."
