How can we restore nature and add economic value in real terms? Consider this your professional guide to achieving growth on two levels.
Humans are still destroying 11 million hectares of forests each year, roughly equivalent to the size of Cuba. While the rate of global deforestation is slowing, it’s vital to ramp up action to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030, a commitment made by 140 world leaders at COP26 four years ago.
As efforts to stop deforestation fall short, COP30 must be the turning point to scale up tangible solutions from policymakers and businesses to step up forest protection through pro-competitive collaboration of individual businesses.
Changing the economics of deforestation
One of the problems preventing action has long been that it’s currently more profitable to raze forests for logging, farming or cattle ranching than to protect them, which is why the climate conference’s host nation, Brazil, is using COP30 as a launchpad for its Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF). A new finance mechanism that aims to pay developing countries to preserve their tropical forests, the TFFF could become one of the largest multilateral funds ever created and represents a shift from philanthropy to returnable investment with a large part of the investment coming from the private sector.
Alongside this redirection of financial flows towards conservation, a movement is taking off in the private sector. Frontrunner companies are independently adopting a holistic ‘landscape approach’ to deforestation, which means collaborating with all levels of government, Indigenous people and local communities to exchange knowledge and work towards shared goals in specific territories. In an age of climate crisis and economic turbulence, it’s not just the right thing to do, but how to gain a competitive edge.
Forests are an essential part of business infrastructure
As many consumer goods companies count on healthy forests to source their commodities, forests are a crucial component of business survival. Protecting the sourcing of things like palm oil, beef and soy by combatting deforestation is vital for their operations, as well as helping to protect people and the planet. They are critical to farming and food production, as they regulate rainfall, protect soil fertility and stabilise the climate. They absorb greenhouse gas emissions and provide a habitat for vast swathes of this planet’s biodiversity. The livelihoods of 1.6 billion people, and 80% of land-based animal and plant species are dependent on them.
The reality is that companies can only thrive if the communities and landscapes around them are thriving too – especially if they are involved in the production of key commodities like soy, beef, palm oil and paper.
Companies that fail to address deforestation also expose themselves to reputational and regulatory risks – particularly as the European Union’s Regulation on Deforestation-free products (EUDR) is set to become legally binding at the end of this year. All of this means that protecting forests offers a strategic advantage.
No company can do this alone
Deforestation is a systemic issue, so tackling it requires collaboration at scale. The wider landscape approach takes this sheer complexity and scale into account. In practice, it means setting up multistakeholder partnerships in specific locations – like a watershed, biome or company sourcing area – to address local economic, social and environmental challenges together in line with antitrust rules. By individually working with local producers, communities, governments and civil society organisations, companies can help build the local governance and enabling conditions necessary to realize forest protection, sustainable agriculture, and local livelihoods for the long term.
From individual supply chains to shared responsibility
Collaboration is key. Every landscape project starts by engaging local stakeholders and communities on-the-ground to gain an understanding of their needs, issues and the cultural context. To build new industry norms, the Consumer Goods Forum’s Forest Positive Coalition is facilitating the creation of such landscape initiatives for its members and the producers in their supply chains. Comprising 22 companies, we are the only global group that brings consumer goods retailers and manufacturers together to act at scale to build deforestation and conversion free supply chains in a pro-competitive manner.
As a case in point, CGF together with soy suppliers through the Soft Commodities Forum, launched the Sustainable Landscapes Partnership, a supply chain collaboration to advance regenerative and resilient production in Western Mato Grosso and in the Cerrado biome, delivering positive outcomes for people, nature, climate and businesses.
These kinds of collaborations, in line with antitrust rules, are creating tangible results. Since 2023, CGF has co-invested more than $9.5MM USD, benefited 694 farms, restored 415 hectares of land and helped establish legal protections for 387,000 hectares of important ecosystems.
Adopt the landscape approach before it’s too late
Protecting natural ecosystems is fundamental to global economic resilience. With COP30 well underway and the 2030 target to halt forest loss looming closer, now is our chance. Change is possible when we set clear expectations and take bold action – but we know there is much more to do.
Brazil’s Tropical Forest Forever Facility will hopefully unleash vital funding to conserve rainforests in developing countries. Alongside this, the answer for business is to embrace a comprehensive landscape approach. By individually reaching out to local stakeholders and Indigenous people in areas crucial to their supply chains, they can co-create solutions to the challenges related to their operations – while improving efficiencies, increasing business resilience and attracting the growing demographic of sustainability-minded consumers.
By changing course, we can create a ‘forest positive’ future, in which people, the planet and businesses prosper in synergy. We need to meet tomorrow’s demands on today’s land.
Didier Bergeret is Director of Sustainability at The Consumer Goods Forum and lead of its Forest Positive Coalition
Image: FRAEM GmbH / Unsplash
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