Proforest at the WCF Partnership Meeting: Collective Action in the Face of Climate Urgency

The first day, highlighted by ESM Magazine, underscored an evident reality: the current context demands far more than public declarations. Amid growing regulatory pressure, 2030 climate targets and the need to safeguard farmers’ livelihoods, the industry stands at a critical turning point.

One of the central messages was clear: isolated action is no longer enough. Fragmented solutions deliver limited progress. Instead, participants stressed the urgency of systemic approaches that bring together companies, governments, civil society and technology providers to strengthen traceability, reduce deforestation and build climate resilience at origin.
 

The session “Driving measurable impact in forest protection and restoration”, moderated by Daniel Arancibia, brought together representatives from Olam Food Ingredients, The Hershey Company, the Food and Agriculture Organization, Barry Callebaut and the Bureau National d'Études Techniques et de Développement, fostering a multi-stakeholder dialogue between businesses, international organisations and national authorities.

In his opening remarks, Daniel set out a clear challenge: to advance towards zero deforestation and zero degradation, increase carbon stocks across cocoa landscapes, and restore degraded areas. The discussion then focused on three key pillars:

• A landscape approach, supported by robust carbon accounting standards capable of incentivising sector-wide investment with verifiable outcomes.
• Agroforestry and a people-centred approach, recognising that any forest protection or restoration strategy must place producers and communities at its core.
• Effective partnerships and national monitoring and traceability systems, including Côte d’Ivoire’s call for partners to use official national maps and systems as the foundation for action.

The role of regulatory compliance was also examined within an increasingly demanding environment, where transparency and verification are shifting from competitive advantages to basic market requirements. The conversation went beyond simply meeting rules, focusing instead on how to do so efficiently, collaboratively and with tangible impact on the ground.

The meeting delivered a clear conclusion: the challenge is no longer to commit, but to implement at scale and with coherence. The window to 2030 is narrowing, and the sector recognises that the era of pilot projects is giving way to structural implementation.

To read more about the key interventions and reflections from the day, access the full article here:

https://www.esmmagazine.com/supply-chain/collective-action-compliance-climate-urgency-day-1-highlights-from-wcf-partnership-meeting-306286