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Roadmaps to nature-positive: what’s next for agri-food companies?
Authors
Matt Inbusch, Senior Manager Nature and Land Use, WBCSD
这篇见解文章是一系列关于自然积极商业方法的不同观点的一部分. 重点是我们通过正在制定的路线图,为农业食品行业的公司在自己的价值链内外推动这种变革,从中学到什么. For more background, see our initial insights piece).
Agri-Food: The problem and the solution
It’s increasingly well-understood across the realms of policy, business, 自然支撑着全球经济(欧洲央行) the latest to highlight this fact). From raw materials to ecosystem services such as climate regulation, water supply and soil health, business and society-at-large are dependent on the natural world. And yet, the latest assessments 表明我们已经远远超出了地球的能力来维持我们所知道的生命.
The post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) agreed at COP15 last year offers some hope, 使公共和私营部门协调一致,到2030年制止和扭转自然损失, with a view toward full recovery by 2050. The agri-food sector is understood to be the largest driver of nature loss, but also one of the top levers for nature- and climate-positive systems change. WBCSD’s Roadmaps to Nature Positive 正在正规博彩十大网站企业(包括农业食品公司)如何将自己置于对自然有利的道路上, 符合GBF,并与气候和平等的全球需求密切相关.
A Roadmap for the agri-food sector
农业食品“自然积极”路线图将提供初步的“如何”应用指导 High-level Business Actions on Nature 在价值链中,评估和披露重大风险和机会(与 TNFD), and preparing to set science-based targets for nature. 该路线图设计用于整个农业食品价值链,并在农业生产的所有阶段使用 nature positive corporate maturity journey. 我们正在与各种各样的农业食品和专业服务公司合作, 为业务实现创建一种既科学严谨又实用的方法.
The key questions we’re exploring include:
- Scoping: Where to focus, both within my value chain and geographically?
- Materiality: What to focus on, both nature-related dependencies and impacts?
- Risks & Opportunities: Why does this matter for my business and stakeholders?
- Priority Actions: What actions should I be taking, as a company and collectively? What are the key barriers and trade-offs to consider?
We will publish initial guidance in September 2023 in the run-up to COP28. Phase 2 of this work will extend into 2024, and will provide further critical guidance, identifying common metrics and indicators, and aligning on valuation and reporting approaches.
Landscape deep dives: Brazil, USA, Vietnam
Nature impacts and dependencies are highly local. 因此,我们对预期农业扩张的三种情况进行了“深入研究”, containing biodiversity hotspots, 并考虑参与的WBCSD成员公司的主要营运/采购区域. These deep dives are exploring key nature-related pressures, leading practices, key resources, 以及巴西塞拉多地区大豆生产面临的挑战, corn in the Upper Midwest, USA, and rice in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Additional landscapes may be added in Phase 2.
What are we learning?
Start with screening – but don’t stop there: Agri-food value chains are long and complex, often involving many different commodities, and hundreds or thousands of suppliers. 领先的框架建议从行业层面的筛选开始,以了解与自然相关的影响和依赖关系, using publicly-available tools such as ENCORE, the WWF Biodiversity Risk Filter, and the SBTN Materiality Tool. Indeed, there is a wealth of information available to get started, but the next step is critical: assessing your own operations and value chains, and gathering relevant stakeholder input. 我们从与私营部门行为者的具体景观访谈中获得了深刻正规博彩十大网站排名, producers groups, academics, public agencies, conservation organizations, and others.
For example, 在巴西塞拉多地区进行传统的大豆-玉米-棉花轮作, the top pressure on nature stems from land-use change, or the clearing of forests or native vegetation to make room for agriculture, which has a significant carbon and environmental footprint. But of the three crops, cotton has greater nature-related impacts (higher water consumption, pesticides use, soil erosion, and processing impacts). And considering the full annual crop cycle, which is mostly rain-fed, we find that water use is a relatively lower pressure driver here than sector-level screening would indicate. For a corporate actor involved in this value chain, these are important nuances to inform what to focus on, where, and how.
Put producers at the center: Wherever a company sits in the agri-food value chain, 所有的道路都指向处于与自然相关的压力和机遇前沿的生产者. 我们必须优先考虑他们的现实和需求,并认真让他们参与制定解决方案. Our findings reinforce recent research 显示变革的最大障碍与系统力量有关(例如.g. policy, financing, market and consumer dynamics) and farmer behavior change, rather than strictly technical considerations.
For example, in diverse landscapes across the world, expanding regenerative agriculture practices 对恢复因数十年单作和过度使用农用化学品而退化的土壤健康至关重要吗. Training is key, but producers also need reliable market signals, e.g. 为了保护本地植被,或者为了出售像红三叶草这样的新型覆盖作物. Agri-food companies can take the lead in developing these markets, especially when aligned with policymakers, banks, retailers and other key players. As one biodiversity expert and lifelong corn farmer in Minnesota told us, “If we build the markets, farmers will plant [the cover crops]!“在塞拉多,软商品论坛发起了一项价值数百万美元的活动。”Farmer First Clusters该基金旨在激励大豆种植者采取不砍伐森林和不转换作物的做法.
Identify trade-offs & barriers: Conventional agriculture is one of the main drivers of nature loss and climate impacts; given the sector’s high dependence on nature it’s rare to find pure win-win solutions. 我们的路线图正在确定变化的主要障碍,并在高度相互关联的自然挑战之间进行权衡, climate and social equity. We may not have all the solutions today, 但重要的是,首先要确定挑战,以推动集体行动.
For example, new research shows in the medium-to-long term 可再生做法可对作物产量和生产者收入产生重大的积极影响. Yet in the initial years, the transition can bring increased costs and lower yields, as farmlands go through significant transformation. 因此,我们必须确定并促进平衡自然和气候效益与对人类的影响的方法 farmer livelihoods, as well as the need to feed a still-growing world population. 在小生产者占主导地位的地区——比如越南湄公河三角洲的水稻生产地区——正确处理这一关系到日常生存的问题尤为重要.
Leverage existing resources: 我们正在进行的TNFD试点和参与部门指导制定,为路线图的制定提供了直接正规博彩十大网站排名. We’re also aligning with WBCSD and partner programs in key landscapes to inform our deep dives; for example, the Soft Commodities Forum is a key knowledge partner on soy production in the Cerrado; similarly, the Sustainable Rice Landscapes Initiative is informing our research on rice production in the Mekong Delta. It’s also critical to link across sectors, for example with the Forest Sector on land-use issues, and Energy Systems on considerations around food crops and biofuels demand.
Remaining questions: 我们继续努力解决的一些棘手问题包括在(承诺的)“控制和影响范围”方面保持一致, activities and outcomes), and the associated metrics and data needs up and down the value chain. For example, 与“下游”贸易公司或品牌相比,农业投入供应商等“上游”参与者的视角将非常不同. And data availability, 从农场到超市,一致性和质量继续给整个系统的转型带来挑战. Fortunately, we can leverage ongoing leadership on these topics by Regen10, OP2B, SBTN, TNFD and many others.
Looking ahead
在接下来的几个月里,我们将通过利益相关者审查来完成我们的深入研究, and developing a sector-level summary to sit alongside complementary roadmaps for the Built Environment, Energy System and Forest Sector. As the saying goes, “Perfection is the enemy of progress” – this space will continue to evolve, 但我们知道,如果我们计划在这十年扭转自然损失的曲线,私营部门就不能拖延. WBCSD的“积极自然发展路线图”为农业食品等具有最大变革潜力的行业指明了前进的道路.
Interested to learn more or get involved? Please reach out to inbusch@isakichi.net
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