Publication:
Slow Road to Sustainability. The sourcing of soft commodities by Consumer Goods Forum members. Report on progress

dc.contributor.authorWatson, S.
dc.contributor.authorSchouten, W.
dc.contributor.authorHesp, S.
dc.contributor.authorRunci, A.
dc.contributor.authorWillems, M.
dc.date.accessioned2022-01-23T18:58:34Z
dc.date.available2022-01-23T18:58:34Z
dc.identifier.urihttps://open.fsc.org/handle/resource/1085
dc.titleSlow Road to Sustainability. The sourcing of soft commodities by Consumer Goods Forum members. Report on progressen
dcterms.abstractIn this report, WWF reviews the policies and performance of member companies of the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) regarding the sustainability of their sourcing of key soft commodities – and finds much more needs to be done. For sustainability to become the norm, the CGF member companies urgently need to map their supply chains, engage with their supply chains and industry sectors, commit publicly and unambiguously to credibly certified sourcing of their key commodities, and improve transparency by disclosing progress against their timebound sustainable sourcing plans. Soft commodities – derived from forestry, farming and fisheries – are vital for feeding, clothing, and helping to fuel the world. However, their inefficient and unsustainable production can significantly harm communities and key ecosystems. Common impacts include biodiversity loss, deforestation, environmental degradation, watershed disruption, climate change and social conflict. Demand for soft commodities is booming, driven by the world's increasing population, growing purchasing power (especially in emerging economies), urbanization, changing dietary preferences and demand for biofuels, among other factors. We'll need to grow more food in the next 40 years than we have in the past 8,000 combined to feed the global population – in other words, 70 per cent more food by 2050, according to UN estimates.1 To meet this demand – and avoid devastating levels of deforestation and forest degradation, overfishing, overexploitation of other natural resources, water scarcity and hazardous climate change2 – we must find a more sustainable way to extract and produce soft commodities. WWF has prioritized making 14 soft commodities more sustainable (see figure 1). They play key roles in meeting humanity's growing demands for food, fibre and fuel – but at the same time can have ruinous impacts on communities and are major drivers of biodiversity and vital ecosystem loss around the world. To achieve sustainability on Earth, it's critical that all stakeholders — including companies, governments, communities, non- governmental organizations (NGOs) and consumers – align in recognizing the impacts of commodity production and find ways to balance production with maintaining essential forests, land, water and ecosystem services. Introduction 6 SLOW ROAD TO SUSTAINABILITY This comes with many challenges. These include a lack of awareness of the issues among some stakeholders; trade flows shifting toward markets that are less sensitive to sustainability; governments failing to prioritize sustainable production in policy-making – and even in some cases exerting pressure against sustainable production; and a scarcity of research quantifying the compelling business case.en
dcterms.accessRightsPublic
dcterms.accessRightsOpen access
dcterms.bibliographicCitationWatson, S., Solon, M.M., Schouten, W.J., Hesp, S., Runci, A. and Willems, M., 2016. Slow Road to Sustainability: The sourcing of soft commodities by Consumer Goods Forum members, Report on progress.en
dcterms.issued2016
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCopyrighted; all rights reserveden
dcterms.publisherWorld Wide Fund for Nature
dcterms.typeReport
dspace.entity.typePublication
fsc.evidenceCategoryFSC impact-related
fsc.focus.sustainDimensionEconomic
fsc.subjectForests
fsc.subjectCertification
fsc.topic.economicProcurement
is.availability.fullTextFull text available
is.contributor.funderTypePrivate funds (NGOs, companies, VSS self-funded etc)
is.contributor.memberForest Stewardship Council
is.evaluation.collectionCompany/certified entities /co-op data records
is.evaluation.counterfactsNo
is.evaluation.dataSourceData by scheme / tool under evaluation
is.evaluation.dataSourcePrivate Company Data
is.evaluation.notesIn this report, WWF reviews the policies and performance of member companies of the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) regarding the sustainability of their sourcing of key soft commodities – and finds much more needs to be done'
is.evaluation.quotesWhile sourcing credibly certified commodities should be a key component of a company's strategy to source commodities sustainably, other action is also essential to tackle the structural issues underlying unsustainable production and ecosystemdegradation. Several frontrunner companies are already implementing complementary sustainability actions, which are detailed on the next page.
is.evaluation.quotesCertification schemes such as RSPO, FSC and RTRS all have safeguards on forest clearing and degradation. While some ofthese still need to be strengthened, a commitment and associated actions to source such certified commodities is a credible way for a company to contribute to achieving zero deforestation in its supply chain.
is.evaluation.quotesPULP AND PAPERPulp and paper are material for 67 CGF companies, but few have quantified timebound commitments to source more ustainable virgin or recycled pulp and paper. Nonetheless, FSC is the second most adopted WWF-recommended standard after RSPO. Companies' certification commitments generally refer to multiple standards, while WWF considers FSC to be the most credible (see annex 3 on the CAT tool).
is.evidenceSubTypeMonitoring report - performance
is.evidenceTypeMonitoring report
is.focus.productsEco-system services
is.focus.sdgSDG 12 - Responsible Production and Consumption
is.focus.sectorsAgriculture
is.focus.sectorsForestry
is.focus.sustainDimensionEconomic
is.focus.sustainDimensionEnvironmental
is.focus.sustainDimensionSocial
is.focus.sustainIssueConsumers and supply chains
is.focus.sustainLensSupply chain benefits
is.focus.sustainOutcomeSustainable sourcing
is.focus.systemElementMandE outcomes and impacts
is.focus.systemElementMandE performance monitoring
is.identifier.codeImpacts
is.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.34800/fsc-international561
is.identifier.schemeNameForest Stewardship Council
is.identifier.schemeTypeSustainable sourcing codes
is.link.urlhttps://wwfeu.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_slow_road_to_sustainability_final.pdf
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