Can a List Save the World’s Forests?
By Susan Tonassi, February 17, 2015
Ricky Martin, CIFOR
Did you know that more than 50 percent of products on grocery store shelves contain ingredients—from palm oil to soy—that likely contributed to the destruction of rainforests? Fortunately, dozens of companies—from Kellogg’s to Mars, Inc.—have recently made pledges to remove forest destruction from the supply chains of their products. But does this mean that consumers are no longer buying goods stemming from forest destruction?
Not quite. The Global Canopy Programme provided a list and ranking of the 500 companies, countries and investors that could collectively end most tropical deforestation worldwide. Well-known consumer companies, including General Mills, Starbucks, Prada, H&M, Coach, McDonald’s, Burger King and others that produce products we find in grocery stores and shopping malls were rated—and not all fared well. Indeed, only a handful of companies, countries and investors scored high marks.
The Global Canopy Programme hopes that their list will inspire “a race to the top,” and that by 2020 or 2030, every company, country and investor on the list will score a five. In the meantime, their ranking will put pressure on actors in the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America to clean up their act when it comes to forests.
To learn more about the Forest 500, check out the website, or read one of the following articles.
Chinese Companies Named and Shamed on List of Deforestation ‘Powerbrokers’– Wall Street Journal
Supply chain policies need work to save forests – think-tank – Thompson Reuters Foundation
Las 500 empresas y gobiernos que podrían salvar los bosques del planeta – El Pais (Spain)
Die Weltrangliste der Urwaldsünder – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Germany)
