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Search The Forest Positive Coalition has published the first version of its Soy Commodity Roadmap, a foundational document for Coalition members which will guide them in their efforts to remove deforestation and conversion of natural ecosystems from soy supply chains. It is the second Commodity Roadmap from the Coalition; the first, on palm oil, was published in September. The third Roadmap, on paper, pulp and fibre-based packaging, is expected to be finalised in January 2021.
Global soy production has expanded rapidly in the past 40 years, but it is one of the largest drivers of deforestation among agricultural commodities. With technical support from Proforest and the Tropical Forest Alliance, Coalition members have aligned on a direction of travel to make changes within their own operations, work with governments and stakeholders to build enabling environments for forest positive soy production, and fundamentally, engage with actors in their supply chains to encourage not just a forest positive supply of soy, but also transformation towards forest positive suppliers.
The Roadmap outlines the steps the Coalition will take in the next two to three years in five areas focusing on own operations, supplier and trader engagement, management and monitoring of high-risk regions, engagement in landscapes and regions, and finally, transparency and accountability.
Key actions that will be undertaken as part of the Roadmap include:
- Committing publicly to eliminate legal and illegal deforestation and conversion of natural ecosystems to soy in members’ respective supply chains;
- Have a public time-bound action plan in place for the actions each Coalition member will take to end deforestation and conversion of natural ecosystems from soy in their supply chain, including cut-off dates and target dates that are consistent with the Accountability Framework (AFi) and Collaboration for Forests and Agriculture (CFA) deforestation and conversion-free (DCF) Regional Guidance; and consistent with cut-off dates in any existing sectoral agreements and no later than 2020;
- Identifying the key own-brand suppliers and traders in Coalition members’ supply bases (for retailers and manufacturers, respectively) and engage individually and as a Coalition to communicate the “Coalition Ask” to transition towards being a forest positive supplier, discuss progress in performance and identify areas for collaboration to drive sector-wide transformation
- Supporting ongoing monitoring and verification of deforestation and conversion in high-risk origins to track the effectiveness of actions
- Engaging in dialogue with existing and emerging initiatives and relevant sub-national governments in priority origins and develop aligned approaches for on-the-ground action, in collaboration with other actors in the supply chain, with a particular focus on individual and collective investment opportunities and support for local livelihoods and communities
- Report publicly at least annually on all the Key Performance Indicators agreed by the Coalition
The published Roadmap follows a stakeholder consultation process, in which 13 stakeholder organisations from around the world provided valuable inputs. Stakeholder engagement and consultation is essential to the success of the Coalition’s strategy and actions, as the Coalition strongly believes that stopping commodity-driven deforestation can only be achieved through collaboration and not by one single company, government or organisation working alone. Furthermore, this consultation will continue to inform regular updates to the Roadmap.
The Forest Positive Coalition was formed in 2020 by The Consumer Goods Forum and brings together 18 of the world’s largest retailers and manufacturers, with a combined market value of $1.8 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.
