Today, businesses are under increasing pressure to avoid or reduce their carbon emissions and their negative impacts on landscapes and biodiversity. Food producing businesses alone account for roughly one fourth of global supply chain emissions. When it comes to deforestation, according to a 2021 World Resources Institute analysis, just seven agricultural commodities — cattle, oil palm, soy, cocoa, rubber, coffee and plantation wood fiber — accounted for 26 percent of global tree cover loss from 2001 to 2015.
This analysis also states that agricultural commodities replaced 71.9 million hectares of forest during that period.
The good news: many companies have realized that nature loss directly affects their business, and pro-environment consumer preferences and new regulations force them to look beyond short- term profits. As a consequence, many have started to rethink or even change their business practices and supply chains and are investing in land and forest conservation.
Yet only few have taken the necessary next step: the restoration of degraded land and forests in order to reverse the damage that has already been done. These pioneers are taking restoration action because they understand that restoration holds opportunities to reduce risks, improve business resilience, increase profitability and growth, and provide value-based leadership.
