tive Officer Paul Bulcke will attend talks on climate change between some of the world’s leading consumer goods companies and the United States government today, with the aim of furthering their combined efforts to end deforestation.The meeting, taking place at the White House in Washington DC, includes leaders from other companies including Unilever, Wal-Mart, Cargill, Royal Ahold, and SC Johnson, as well as those from NGOs including the World Wildlife Fund and Conservation International.
It builds on the Tropical Forest Alliance 2020 - a private-public partnership between the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) and the governments of the US, United Kingdom, Norway and the Netherlands, to support an international effort to reduce deforestation by promoting sustainable supply chains.
Mr Bulcke will attend as Nestlé CEO and in his capacity as manufacturer co-chair of the CGF. He will be joined by fellow CGF retailer co-chair Dick Boer, CEO of Royal Ahold.
The debate will be centred on partnering with the private sector on the US President’s Climate Action Plan and the CGF resolutions on deforestation and refrigeration.
The talks, due to start at 1000EST, will see the CGF update the government on progress it has made towards meeting its commitment on zero deforestation by 2020, as well as phasing out the use of hydrofluorocarbon gases as refrigerants by 2015.
Industry commitments
The CGF is a global industry network that brings together leaders and senior management from more than 400 retailers, manufacturers, service providers and other stakeholders across 70 countries.
In 2010, at the United Nations Climate Change conference in Cancun, the CGF pledged to mobilise its collective resources to help achieve zero net deforestation and to phase out the use of refrigerant gases with high global warming potential.
Responsible sourcing
Nestlé made a commitment on no-deforestation in 2010, which states that its products will not be associated with deforestation.
The commitment covers all the raw materials used to make both the company’s products and packaging.
Nestlé has set itself the additional target of achieving 100% certified sustainable palm oil by the end of 2013, two years ahead of its initial public pledge.
