Search 
Search In a recent article published by edie, The Consumer Goods Forum Director of Sustainability, Didier Bergeret, has emphasized the importance of transparency and traceability in the fight against commodity-driven deforestation, forest degradation and conversion. Entitled “Transparency is the foundation of a forest-positive future,” the article focuses on the need for businesses to hold themselves accountable in their efforts creating a forest positive by providing public data to measure their progress against clear performance metrics.
The article followed the publication of the CGF Forest Positive Coalition’s first-ever Annual Report, which includes a baseline analysis of Coalition members’ existing public disclosure efforts against the Key Performance Indicators outlined in the Coalition’s four Commodity Roadmaps.
“Increasing our awareness of the existence, location, and causes of deforestation is both an essential step in creating meaningful solutions to this global crisis and measuring their impact,” wrote Didier. “Without visibility and transparency, followed by measurement and disclosure, real progress cannot be made, and we will not be able to create the forest positive future that our planet desperately needs.”
This work is not always easy, however, as Didier acknowledges: “Due to the complexity of global supply chains, gathering this information can be challenging, and many companies still have ways to go before they have the complete picture of their relationship to deforestation. However, we have seen first-hand that without this specificity, along with concrete goals, public progress reports, and collectively accountability, a forest positive future will never be our reality.”
The Forest Positive Coalition was formed in 2020 by The Consumer Goods Forum and brings together 21 of the world’s largest retailers and manufacturers, with a combined market value of around US $2 trillion, to take collective action to remove deforestation, forest conversion and degradation from key commodity supply chains. For more information about the Coalition’s actions to create a forest positive future, visit the Coalition’s website.
