Supply chain no deforestation commitments: plugging the implementation gap www.proforest.net Dr Mike Senior 23 rd November 2017
Supporting people to transform natural resource production for greater sustainability
Proforest s work on No deforestation Consultancy for companies: Responsible Sourcing Responsible Production: High Conservation Value (HCV) and High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA) assessments Policy level: Member of multistakeholder initiatives, e.g. HCSA, HCVRN, Accountability Framework Identifying forest to protect in new agricultural/forestry developments Developing policies & methodologies for no deforestation
Overview No deforestation commitments Progress to date Implementation challenges Potential solutions Examples: Oil palm in SE Asia Beef in Brazil Role of the research community
Why forests & deforestation? Climate change Habitat & biodiversity loss Loss of livelihoods, cultural sites, displacement Kissinger et al 2012 Deforestation drivers? Agricultural and timber production a big part! Driven by growing consumption & populations
Origins of No Deforestation Consumer and NGO concerns about tropical deforestation in commodity supply chains Primary concern/funding linked to climate change Producer governments not doing enough Leverage private sector exposure and resources Major campaigns against private sector! Push for no deforestation in commodity supply chains
Committing to No deforestation Commitments at many levels: governments, private sector but driven by consumer governments and downstream companies High level declarations: New York Declaration on Forests (2014) Consumer Goods Forum Resolution (2010) Private sector responsible sourcing commitments: Consumer Goods Companies (e.g. Unilever, Mars, Mondelez) Producers/traders (e.g. Wilmar, APRIL etc) NDPE = No deforestation, peat or exploitation
Many commodity traders, retailers and consumer goods companies have committed to No deforestation Private sector commitments Especially palm, timber, pulp & paper Mainly a response to NGO campaigns Forest Trends 2016
Henders et al, 2015 Awareness & campaigns Vs drivers..
Implementing Responsible Sourcing Commitments Responsible sourcing to responsible production DEFINE
Successes so far Huge increase in awareness globally Huge number of No deforestation commitments: Global, e.g. CGF, NYDF, SDGs Private sector commitments, e.g. NDPE covers 80% of palm oil New approaches & tools to: Define & identify forest, e.g. HCSA Monitor forests, e.g. GFW Results: Avoiding deforestation in concessions of companies with NDPE commitments but how to secure forest protection? 2020!
New approaches to identify forest Identifying forests to protect: Integrated HCV-HCSA assessments How does it work? Assessment before any development Biol & social surveys & mapping, consultation Map HCS and HCV areas to protect Who is using this? Large producers in palm (& timber) plantation sectors Fragmented landscapes in SE Asia
Outputs of an HCV-HCSA assessment Legal reserve HCS Legal buffer zones HCV Community use Community use areas High Carbon Stock areas High Conservation Value areas
How to close the implementation gap? But deforestation continuing.. Two key barriers: 1. Identify & Protect & Monitor 2. Understand typology of deforestation (i.e. socio-politicaltenure context)
Ensuring long-term forest protection Identifying forest doesn t mean it will stay standing
How do you actually protect forests? Forest definition, identification and monitoring are mainly technical e.g. using RS/GIS technologies Scalable and can be applied from a distance. Protection is very different: Highly context specific and Applied on the ground, w/ engagement of local actors, Must address variable, local socioeconomic drivers of deforestation Takes time!
What leverage do retailers and consumer goods companies have over producers in their supply chains?
The most effective approach to protection will vary depending on the context: it must be based on a good understanding of deforestation typologies
Approaches for existing Vs not-yet producers Assumption has been that if you target companies then you will stop future clearance.. Target not-yet-producers and find effective ways to encourage forest protection and discourage forest clearing
Not just big, bad companies What do I get out of protecting forest? Practical and ethical challenge for small producers and communities without other resources: How to ensure that those that opt to protect the forest don t lose out in the long term compared to those that clear and can thus generate an income from production? Without a reasonable answer to the main question landowners ask it is very difficult to make progress
Unintended consequences Excision of forest from lease areas Leakage: Soy from Amazon Cerrado Split markets: How to retain influence in high risk landscapes & over non-export commodities? Deforestation continues to pay for local actors Forestry and agricultural concessions in the Congo Basin
Identifying the right interventions
Strategies for different contexts
Example: cattle & soy in Brazil Deforestation down 80% 2004-12 What has worked? No silver bullet! Combination of solutions Legal requirements (Forest Code) Holistic socio-economic aspects: Credit withheld at jurisdictional & property level Investment in downstream processing Compensation, e.g. Bolsa Floresta Strong enforcement (previously ) & technology Multilateral private sector moratorium Risks: political change, leakage
Sector-wide challenges and supply chain mapping limitations
Cattle production and deforestation trends in Brazil Gibbs et al. 2015
Drivers of Deforestation - Amazon EII
Mars: Rural Environmental Registry System Active, Pending, Cancelled Source of images: SFB, 2016 and SFB, 2017
Example: palm in Indonesia Deforestation remains high Barriers: Lack of effective legal mechanisms Decentralisation & conflicting political agendas No incentives to stop smallholder deforestation Competition for palm fresh fruit bunches What is being tried now? Fire-Free Village Programs, e.g. APRIL Jurisdictional approaches, e.g. South Sumatra Landscape-level company collaboration, e.g. Leuser, West Kalimantan
Example: RSPO HCV app for smallholders Identifies go and no-go areas for palm smallholders Simplifies RSPO certification through: Mapping property boundaries Automated HCV maps Automated management reqs What next? Launch the app! Options for compensating SHs?
Role of the research community Engage with key initiatives: e.g. RSPO, HCSA, etc Understand social dimensions of deforestation Assess & predict macro-level outcomes of policies/ commitments: How can we save the most forest? Risk of split markets? Assess effectiveness of local-level interventions in different real-world conditions less metaanalyses (sorry)!
Some relevant reports Proforest: Delivering company commitments to zero deforestation commodity supply chains https://www.proforest.net/en/publications/delivering-companycommitments-to-zero-deforestation-commodity-supply-chains Climate Focus: The Commodities and Forests Agenda 2020: Ten Priorities to Remove Tropical Deforestation from Commodity Supply Chains http://www.climatefocus.com/publications/commodities-andforests-agenda-2020-ten-priorities-remove-tropicaldeforestation
Thanks for listening. Any questions? mike@proforest.net www.proforest.net