Advancing climate and nature goals with AFi Delivery Partners

Eliminating deforestation and ecosystem conversion from supply chains is often the single most important thing companies can do to meet climate targets. For most companies operating in the agriculture and forestry sectors, deforestation and conversion are responsible for a major share of their Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions.

These companies face a growing set of requirements and expectations from civil society, customers, and investors to address land use change and related emissions in their operations and supply chains. There is also a growing body of regulatory instruments requiring companies address their environmental and human rights impacts. The EU deforestation regulation (EUDR) and EU corporate sustainability due diligence directive (CSDDD) are timely examples. Fortunately, the processes and systems that are required to achieve voluntary commitments also help companies in meeting regulatory requirements.

Using the Accountability Framework and a suite of aligned tools, companies can tackle their land use change emissions. Many companies have already begun this journey with support from AFi Coalition members and AFi Delivery Partners, such as the consultancy South Pole. Working with an expert partner can help companies create a holistic corporate climate strategy with integrated forest goals.

South Pole supports corporate and financial actors with effective and comprehensive approaches and tools to set and achieve no-deforestation and no-conversion commitments in line with international best practices in both compliance and voluntary spaces. For example, South Pole’s No-Deforestation & No-Conversion Supply Chains Advisory is currently working with companies to:

• Identify risk exposure and impacts: What’s the materiality of deforestation-concerned commodities in your supply chain?
• Set commitments and targets: What commitments are you required to set for voluntary frameworks, or upcoming regulations will you be required to comply with?
• Build roadmaps: How can your company and its supply chain move towards meeting its deforestation and conversion commitments?
• Finance no-deforestation action: How can your company effectively channel resources to the correct place to make action happen in the realm of reducing deforestation and conversion?
• Monitor and verify progress: How can your company create a strategy for monitoring and verifying progress? Which key players and partnerships will need to be forged to make this happen?

The AFi works with partners like South Pole that are trained to offer Accountability Framework-aligned services and tailored support to companies. To find a consultancy that can help your company achieve towards supply chains that protect forests, nature, and human rights, visit the delivery partners page. Further, to learn more about the immediate steps your company can take to meet a range of land sector goals, watch the AFi’s webcast moderated by GreenBiz on Aligning corporate targets for forests, climate, and nature.