06-01-2016 - The initiative “Zero Deforestation Commitments from Commodity Producers and Traders” aims to eliminate deforestation from the production of agricultural commodities such as palm oil, soy, paper and beef products by no later than 2020, thereby contributing to the goal of ending natural forest loss by 2030.
Partner initiatives are the World Economic Forum, the Tropical Forest Alliance, the Consumer Goods Forum and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Taken together, the share of palm oil under zero deforestation commitments rose to about 60 percent in 2014 -and up to 80% by some estimates in Jan 2015 – and has the potential to reduce 400 million to 450 million tons of CO2 emissions annually by 2020.
The initiative is primarily focussed on avoiding tropical deforestation in South East Asia, Central and West Africa and regions of Latin America. The companies that have undertaken zero deforestation commitments can show progress in the implementation of their no deforestation policies and action plans, especially in palm oil supply chains.
More than 20 global food companies have already committed to deforestation-free sourcing policies of palm oil.  Three of these -the world’s largest palm oil companies - have also committed to working together on implementation.
Indicators for success are the amounts of deforestation-free commodities bought by a company and areas of forest that fall under a deforestation-free supply chain programme.