Green on-trend: Top fashion and food firms test ways to nurture nature
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From protecting pollinating insects to cutting the hoofprint of cashmere-producing goats, companies are aiming greener. BARCELONA, Aug 25 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - From helping Mongolia's goat herders produce cashmere more efficiently to counting insects on "biodiversity plots" planted on farms, some of the world's biggest brands are blazing a trail with innovative efforts to nurture nature.
Sustainability researchers say businesses have shown a surge of interest in limiting the harm their operations do to the planet, as scientists have outlined more clearly the threats to forests, water, soil, plants, animals, birds - and people.
"For decades we have been trying to get companies on board with this journey but in the past six to 12 months, I have never seen so much interest," said Eva Zabey, executive director of Business for Nature, a coalition lobbying for stronger government policies and more corporate action.
At least 400 firms have signed up to international commitments to protect nature, and more than 1,200 companies already are taking some steps in their operations, she added.
Britain on Monday said it would start a consultation process on a potential new law that would force big companies to clean up their supply chains by fining them if they used products grown on illegally deforested land.
A World Economic Forum report in January estimated that $44 trillion of economic value generated around the world each year - over half of global GDP – depends on nature and its services.
Those include food crop pollination, genetic material for medicines and mangroves to reduce storm damage, said Cath Tayleur, a senior programme manager for business and nature at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL).
"The key message is that your business can't continue to have negative impacts while still expecting to benefit from the positive aspects of biodiversity," she told a webinar on business and nature this month.
Already nature "is in a perilous state", she added.
A 2019 flagship report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) warned that up to 1 million animal and plant species out of an estimated 8 million are at risk of extinction, particularly due to industrial farming and fishing.
Numbers like these - together with greater recognition of the role forests play in absorbing planet-heating carbon - are pushing water utilities, mining companies, food manufacturers and others to address the environmental impact of how they source raw materials.
RESOURCE STEWARDS
Chris Brown, senior director of sustainable supply chains at British supermarket chain Asda, said customer surveys show more than 90% of its shoppers care about the Walmart-owned business being green.
"We are seen as stewards of the natural resources we rely on by our customers," he told the online event.
To earn their trust, Asda is transforming its supply chains, from selling fish certified by the Marine Stewardship Council to sourcing sustainably produced cocoa and palm oil, and planting trees to reach a net-zero deforestation goal.
One of its programmes works with potato growers to plant biodiversity plots on their land.
Asda sent in entomologists to identify and count the insects, and "see what we were generating other than pretty flowers and nice photos" from the project, said Brown.
He noted that 75% of global food production relies on pollinators such as bees and wasps, a key incentive to protect them.
Working out metrics to measure improvements to the soil and other benefits from eco-friendly agriculture will be one important challenge in the coming five years, he said.
Meanwhile, businesses face an "alphabet soup of initiatives" aimed at galvanising nature protection, making it hard to know which to back, he added.
Those initiatives include the New York Declaration on Forests, which strives to halve tropical deforestation by 2020 and end it by 2030 - although it is not on track to meet its goals - and the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment to reuse plastic items and reduce waste.
"There are an awful lot of pledges and commitments that companies are being asked to become signatories for - which is in my opinion both good and frustrating, because... just having a commitment doesn't necessarily mean action," said Gemma Cranston, director for business and nature at CISL.
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Sustainability researchers say businesses have shown a surge of interest in limiting the harm their operations do to the planet, as scientists have outlined more clearly the threats to forests, water, soil, plants, animals, birds - and people.
"For decades we have been trying to get companies on board with this journey but in the past six to 12 months, I have never seen so much interest," said Eva Zabey, executive director of Business for Nature, a coalition lobbying for stronger government policies and more corporate action.
At least 400 firms have signed up to international commitments to protect nature, and more than 1,200 companies already are taking some steps in their operations, she added.
Britain on Monday said it would start a consultation process on a potential new law that would force big companies to clean up their supply chains by fining them if they used products grown on illegally deforested land.
A World Economic Forum report in January estimated that $44 trillion of economic value generated around the world each year - over half of global GDP – depends on nature and its services.
Those include food crop pollination, genetic material for medicines and mangroves to reduce storm damage, said Cath Tayleur, a senior programme manager for business and nature at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL).
"The key message is that your business can't continue to have negative impacts while still expecting to benefit from the positive aspects of biodiversity," she told a webinar on business and nature this month.
Already nature "is in a perilous state", she added.
A 2019 flagship report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) warned that up to 1 million animal and plant species out of an estimated 8 million are at risk of extinction, particularly due to industrial farming and fishing.
Numbers like these - together with greater recognition of the role forests play in absorbing planet-heating carbon - are pushing water utilities, mining companies, food manufacturers and others to address the environmental impact of how they source raw materials.
RESOURCE STEWARDS
Chris Brown, senior director of sustainable supply chains at British supermarket chain Asda, said customer surveys show more than 90% of its shoppers care about the Walmart-owned business being green.
"We are seen as stewards of the natural resources we rely on by our customers," he told the online event.
To earn their trust, Asda is transforming its supply chains, from selling fish certified by the Marine Stewardship Council to sourcing sustainably produced cocoa and palm oil, and planting trees to reach a net-zero deforestation goal.
One of its programmes works with potato growers to plant biodiversity plots on their land.
Asda sent in entomologists to identify and count the insects, and "see what we were generating other than pretty flowers and nice photos" from the project, said Brown.
He noted that 75% of global food production relies on pollinators such as bees and wasps, a key incentive to protect them.
Working out metrics to measure improvements to the soil and other benefits from eco-friendly agriculture will be one important challenge in the coming five years, he said.
Meanwhile, businesses face an "alphabet soup of initiatives" aimed at galvanising nature protection, making it hard to know which to back, he added.
Those initiatives include the New York Declaration on Forests, which strives to halve tropical deforestation by 2020 and end it by 2030 - although it is not on track to meet its goals - and the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment to reuse plastic items and reduce waste.
"There are an awful lot of pledges and commitments that companies are being asked to become signatories for - which is in my opinion both good and frustrating, because... just having a commitment doesn't necessarily mean action," said Gemma Cranston, director for business and nature at CISL.
read further from the source above
Keywords
social contract
environmental crisis
land restoration
food security
fibres
innovative technologies
sustainability
feed
business ethics
ecosystem services
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