Deforestation
Deforestation and the conversion of natural ecosystems is a significant driver of climate change and biodiversity loss, and the expansion of commodity production is the leading cause of deforestation worldwide. To decouple production from deforestation, a combination of measures are needed, at landscape level and within commodity supply chains.
Leading companies have made commitments to ensure that the products they source do not result in deforestation or conversion of natural ecosystems. Governments are developing regulatory frameworks for commodities linked to deforestation. Sustainability systems have a role to play in helping detect and mitigate deforestation risks, encouraging sustainable forest management, and supporting implementation with emerging legislation.
ISEAL is helping sustainability systems adapt and strengthen their systems to ensure that companies can continue to use certification to meet their deforestation and conversion free goals and regulatory obligations, without switching their sourcing regions. Needed improvements include strengthening provision of data on geolocation of production and improved traceability with control of non-certified production. In parallel, ISEAL’s policy and engagement team is active in sharing information and practice experience that will help policy-makers with effective design and implementation of deforestation regulation.
ISEAL’s Innovations Fund supports the piloting of new approaches to detection and mitigation of deforestation risks. ISEAL’s Systems Effectiveness work seeks to embed learning and good practice on risk detection and mitigation across sustainability systems in the ISEAL Community. For example, through the Certification Atlas project enabled a group of members to explore how geographic information system (GIS) technology and mapped locations of member-certified operations could be used to detect and make decisions around deforestation. Many have since adopted these approaches in their own schemes.
Recognizing the importance of action beyond the individual production unit, ISEAL also supports landscape and jurisdictional approaches to tackle deforestation at scale.
Sustainability legislation has expanded rapidly in recent years. Increasingly, addressing issues such as deforestation and human rights risks within supply chains is no longer a voluntary choice by responsible businesses but a legal obligation for all. New regulations have the potential to accelerate the transition to sustainable business practices and deliver positive impacts for people and planet at scale. But they also bring challenges.
This series of case studies looks at how credible voluntary sustainability standards are responding to one of the most important legislative developments: the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which aims to prevent products associated with deforestation from being sold on the EU market.
