127 - Deforestation and agricultural commodity supply chains
127 - Deforestation and agricultural commodity supply chains
EXPRESSING DEEP CONCERN over the ongoing loss and degradation of forests, about 80% of which is due to the conversion of forests to agricultural land, with severe impacts on biodiversity and climate and large socio-economic costs;
STRESSING that forests provide essential ecosystem services, play a crucial role in soil quality and water-cycle regulation, host up to 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity, and are vital to the livelihoods of more than 1.6 billion people, including 60 million indigenous people;
NOTING that illegal logging and illegal timber trade are significant contributors to global deforestation and that the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) has estimated that the total illegal trade in timber is worth between USD 51 and 152 billion a year;
AFFIRMING the continuing relevance of Aichi Biodiversity Target 3 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which states that: “By 2020, at the latest, incentives, including subsidies, harmful to biodiversity are eliminated, phased out or reformed in order to minimize or avoid negative impacts, and positive incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity are developed and applied, consistent and in harmony with the Convention and other relevant international obligations, taking into account national socio-economic conditions”;
RECALLING Article 5 of the Paris Climate Agreement, concerning reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and Aichi Biodiversity Target 5 on sharply reducing the rate of loss of all natural habitats, including forests, by 2020;
WELCOMING the work of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests and its major role, notably in the implementation of the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests;
FURTHER RECALLING decision XIII/3 of the Conference of Parties to the CBD (Cancun, 2016), welcoming initiatives from the private sector and financial institutions to eliminate deforestation from the production of agricultural commodities and operations across their supply chains;
ALSO RECALLING commitments to combat deforestation made by some major commodity-consuming countries, including the New York Declaration on Forests and the Amsterdam Declaration on Deforestation, the Bonn Challenge, and the 2019 G7 Environment Declaration on halting deforestation, including through sustainable agricultural commodity supply chains, as well as ‘zero deforestation’ agriculture plans in some producing countries and policies of some major groups of the private sector;
EMPHASISING the urgent need to conserve and enhance, as appropriate, sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases, including forests and timber; and
RECOGNISING that combating deforestation and natural ecosystem conversion nested in agricultural commodity supply chains requires international cooperation;
1. REAFFIRMS its commitment to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15, as well as other UN commitments on forest conservation, sustainable management and use, restoration and halting of forest and biodiversity loss and degradation, and ending trafficking in endangered tree species, and CALLS FOR timely implementation;
2. STRESSES the urgent need to eliminate the loss, degradation and fragmentation of forests and other natural ecosystems, especially that linked with agricultural commodity supply chains, while achieving food security;
3. URGES states to:
a. assess the impact of their domestic agricultural commodity production and consumption on deforestation and other natural ecosystems and to take measures to halt and reverse those impacts accordingly;
b. promote due diligence and enhance the transparency and traceability of supply chains using standard tools and techniques such as satellite imagery;
c. support consumer education and combat illegal logging and associated trade, including by supporting, protecting and rewarding whistleblowers reporting illegal trade;
d. facilitate investment for sustainable agriculture, including through private-sector financing;
e. provide financial and technical assistance and to help build capacity of all farmers, including smallholder farmers, to practice economically viable, deforestation-free agriculture;
f. implement, where appropriate, sustainable and integrated land-use practices; and
g. combat corruption in the forest sector contributing to deforestation and illicit forest financial flows;
4. INVITES and STRESSES THE NEED FOR the private sector linked to agricultural commodity supply chains, including the finance sector and development finance institutions, to:
a. fulfil and strengthen existing pledges and commitments, for example by inviting the private sector to follow relevant initiatives to increase supply chain transparency, such as (but not limited to) the guidance of the Accountability Framework Initiative and other relevant initiatives;
b. implement:
i. initiatives to eliminate deforestation and natural ecosystem conversion from supply chains;
ii. deforestation-free procurement practices, taking into account, as appropriate, resources such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains; and
iii. safeguards against environmental and social risks associated with production or finance and investment of production of agricultural and forestry commodities and products; and
c. improve transparency and reporting practices, including to consumers, on the impacts of agricultural commodity supply chains on forests and other natural ecosystems;
5. REQUESTS the Director General and IUCN Commissions to work with FAO, the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), and other members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests to contribute to combating illegal timber trade and promoting legal and transparent supply chains; and
6. URGES the Director General and the Commissions, especially the Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP), to assess and make recommendations on the adverse impacts of agricultural, mining (extractive minerals) and fossil-fuel subsidies on deforestation, ecosystem conversion and degradation and biodiversity loss, and the lives of indigenous peoples, as well as their incentivisation of corruption.
