AsiaNet  85736

PARIS, Sept. 23, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

- The Consumer Goods Forum Forest Positive Coalition of Action includes members

from 17 consumer goods companies with a collective market value of US$1.8

trillion

- The Forest Positive Coalition of Action launches at Climate Week 2020 on

Tuesday 22nd September 10:00 EST

Today, as part of Climate Week 2020, The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) officially

launched the Forest Positive Coalition of Action, including 17 global consumer

goods brands, retailers and manufacturers that will work together and use their

collective voice to accelerate systemic efforts to remove deforestation, forest

degradation and conversion from the key commodity supply chains of palm oil,

soy, and paper, pulp and fibre-based packaging, and drive transformative change

across the industry.  

The Coalition, led by the respective company CEOs and co-sponsored at the CGF

Board level by Carrefour and Mars, Incorporated, brings the world's largest

consumer goods brands together with a collective market value of US$1.8

trillion. Its ambition is to utilise its collective reach and knowledge, global

networks and resources, to engage and collaborate with producers, suppliers and

traders, as well as governments and civil society, to advocate for forest

positive solutions. The Forest Positive Coalition for Action members are:

Carrefour

Colgate-Palmolive Company

Danone

Essity

General Mills

Grupo Bimbo

Jerónimo Martins

Mars, Incorporated

METRO AG

Mondelez International

Nestle

P&G

PepsiCo

Sainsbury's

Tesco

Unilever

Walmart

The Forest Positive Coalition of Action has committed to act in the following

key areas:

1)  Engage with suppliers and traders to ask they implement Forest Positive

actions across their entire commodity operations;

2)  Join forces to address forest conservation challenges in key production

landscapes;

3)  Encourage governments and stakeholders to create an enabling environment

for forest conservation;

4)  Ensure transparency and accountability by regularly reporting on progress.

As part of their commitments, members of the Coalition will work constructively

with governments – both in producer nations and importing nations – to

encourage them to put in place practical measures to support a forest positive

future. The Coalition will advocate and support practises to change behaviours

and processes at a macro-level to support global forests and not one specific

area.

Grant Reid, President & CEO, Mars, Incorporated and CGF Board Co-Sponsor of the

Forest Positive Coalition, said, "We believe forest protection is a driver of

economic growth, not a sacrifice to growth. Forest protection provides healthy

ecosystems and supports productive landscapes and resilient communities. In the

wake of the COVID-19 crisis, we must ensure that efforts to protect forests are

part of the global response. This response requires all actors with an interest

in ending deforestation and who are committed to being part of the solution to

come together".

Alexandre Bompard, Chairman and CEO, Carrefour and CGF Board Co-Sponsor of the

Forest Positive Coalition, said, "We are actively changing our model in order

to become forest positive businesses. We are fully committed to engaging supply

chain actors, taking action on the ground and working collectively to catalyse

change. Multi-stakeholder action is critical, particularly political engagement

at the national and regional levels, as is strong support from the investment

community".

The Forest Positive Coalition for Action will be officially announced as part

of Climate Week 2020 where members of the Coalition, UK and Indonesia

government representatives and the Tropical Forest Alliance will meet to

discuss and take questions from the public on the Coalition, its ambitions and

the roadmap to reaching the Coalition's goals.

Wai-Chan Chan, Managing Director, The Consumer Goods Forum said, "Deforestation

continues to be a critical issue facing our planet today. Our event at New York

Climate Week will showcase exactly how our Coalition is committed to

on-the-ground actions that deliver impact at scale and will explain how we

intend to be successful. We are also bringing a variety of voices to the table

to ensure we engage from the get-go and effectively listen to the concerns of

those fighting to mainstream the issue of deforestation and who support

nature-based, innovative solutions. We are in this fight together".

The event, held on Zoom, will run from 10:00 EST to 11:00 EST on Tuesday 22nd

September 2020. Please sign up here: cwnyc.tcgfforestpositive.com

[https://tcgf.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VA9A1hYiREazx9BuaQllSA]

For more information on the Climate Week 2020 event, please visit:

https://www.climateweeknyc.org/event/breaking-chains-cgf-forest-positive-coalition-action

For more information on the Coalition, its members and its aims, please visit:

www.tcgfforestpositive.com

About The Consumer Goods Forum:

The Consumer Goods Forum ("CGF") is a global, parity-based industry network

that is driven by its members to encourage the global adoption of practices and

standards that serves the consumer goods industry worldwide. It brings together

the CEOs and senior management of some 400 retailers, manufacturers, service

providers, and other stakeholders across 70 countries, and it reflects the

diversity of the industry in geography, size, product category and format. Its

member companies have combined sales of EUR 3.5 trillion and directly employ

nearly 10 million people, with a further 90 million related jobs estimated

along the value chain. It is governed by its Board of Directors, which

comprises 58 manufacturer and retailer CEOs. For more information, please

visit: www.theconsumergoodsforum.com.

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SOURCE: The Consumer Goods Forum