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Search PARIS, 31 March 2021 — Six months after being officially launched at New York Climate Week, The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) Forest Positive Coalition of Action has published its first-ever report, “Taking Root: Embarking on the Forest Positive Journey,” which offers a comprehensive illustration of the Coalition’s strategy to lead cross-sector efforts in ending commodity-driven deforestation. The publication outlines the Coalition’s collective approach to driving full-sector transformation in the production and supply of four key commodities — palm oil, soy, paper, pulp and fibre-based packaging, and beef — by engaging with suppliers, traders, governments, and civil society stakeholders, and investing in key production landscapes.
The publication is also the Coalition’s first step towards full transparency and accountability, knowing both are essential in being able to track progress, bring visibility to challenges within the supply chain, and build trust with stakeholders and consumers. Notably, the Coalition has committed to reporting publicly and collectively on the Key Performance Indicators listed in its Commodity Roadmaps, and will publish its first collective transparency progress report in September of this year. “Taking Root” lays the groundwork for the Coalition’s regular reporting in the future by supporting individual and collective disclosure of progress and sharing details as to how the Coalition is working with existing transparency mechanisms to drive efficiency and harmonisation. The publication offers a first glimpse at this disclosure progress by providing an initial collective overview of individual companies’ existing transparency efforts around their palm oil and soy supplies.
Additionally, the publication includes insights from the Coalition’s leadership and technical partners from Proforest and the Tropical Forest Alliance. The Coalition is Co-sponsored at the CGF Board level by Alexandre Bompard, CEO, Carrefour, and Grant F. Reid, Chairman and CEO, Mars, Incorporated. It is Co-chaired by Christine Montenegro McGrath, Vice President and Chief Global Impact, Sustainability, at Mondelēz International, and Bertrand Swiderski, Sustainability Director, Carrefour.
The publication is available on the Forest Positive Coalition’s website here.
Alexandre Bompard, CEO, Carrefour, said, “Together as a Coalition, we have aligned on a vision and an action plan to effect real, widespread change. The prerequisite to successful action is to ensure trust and accountability, which is why we have collectively taken a game-changing commitment to publicly and regularly report back on our actions. By working together, I am confident that we can make great strides toward the forest positive future we want and need.”
Grant F. Reid, Chairman and CEO, Mars, Incorporated, said, “This publication gives a first comprehensive look at our ambitions and progress, covering performance on the ground, our procurement behaviours, and how we are allocating resources in our supply chains. We’ll seek to continue to build on this first effort, and appreciate feedback from our members and our stakeholders as we continue to drive change towards a forest positive future.”
Wai-Chan Chan, Managing Director, The Consumer Goods Forum, said, “A great amount of progress has been made by the Forest Positive Coalition since it was officially launched at Climate Week last year. This publication captures the journey of the Coalition so far and lays out where it will go as it continues to progress and accelerate efforts against commodity-driven deforestation. We look forward to continuing to work with key stakeholders and actors across sectors to drive real positive change on this issue.”
The 20 CGF members joining today’s announcement are: Asia Paper and Pulp (APP) Sinar Mas, Carrefour, Colgate-Palmolive Company, Danone, Essity, General Mills, Grupo Bimbo, Jerónimo Martins, Mars, Incorporated, METRO AG, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, Reckitt, Sainsbury’s, Sodexo, Tesco, Unilever, and Walmart.
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About the Forest Positive Coalition
The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) Forest Positive Coalition of Action is a CEO-led initiative representing 20 CGF member companies who are committed to leveraging collective action and accelerating systemic efforts to remove deforestation, forest degradation and conversion from key commodity supply chains. Launched in 2020, the Coalition represents a dynamic shift in the industry’s approach to stopping deforestation: by mobilising the leading position of member companies to build multi-stakeholder partnerships and develop effective implementation and engagement strategies, the Coalition brings together diverse stakeholders for sustainable impact. These efforts support the development of forest-positive businesses that drive transformational change in key landscapes and commodity supply chains, strengthening the resilience of communities and ecosystems worldwide. To learn more about the Forest Positive Coalition, visit www.tcgfforestpositive.com.
About The Consumer Goods Forum
The Consumer Goods Forum (“CGF”) is a global, parity-based industry network that is driven by its members to encourage the global adoption of practices and standards that serves the consumer goods industry worldwide. It brings together the CEOs and senior management of some 400 retailers, manufacturers, service providers, and other stakeholders across 70 countries, and it reflects the diversity of the industry in geography, size, product category and format. Its member companies have combined sales of EUR 3.5 trillion and directly employ nearly 10 million people, with a further 90 million related jobs estimated along the value chain. It is governed by its Board of Directors, which comprises 58 manufacturer and retailer CEOs. For more information, please visit: www.theconsumergoodsforum.com.
Contact
Didier Bergeret
Director, Sustainability
Madelaine VanDerHeyden
Officer, Communications
