Linking 'no-deforestation' supply chains and national climate mitigation initiatives

Proforest has been selected to lead a project that continues its Production Landscapes Programme work in Ghana, Côte D’Ivoire and Peru over the next three years, by the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The International Climate Initiative of the Federal German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) provides international financing of climate protection and biodiversity, with projects supported on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.

The project, Linking 'no-deforestation' supply chains and national climate mitigation initiatives, will work with companies, governments, local civil society and international multi-stakeholder and industry initiatives to develop and test approaches and guidance to better align and integrate implementation of private-sector commitments to eliminating deforestation from supply chains with national policies and initiatives to address deforestation. In particular, the project will focus on supporting implementation through landscape and jurisdictional initiatives in the three focal countries - Ghana, Côte D’Ivoire and Peru.

Proforest has twenty years’ experience working in sustainable agricultural commodity production and sourcing in these regions. Its production landscapes work to date has been funded by the UK Government’s Forest Governance, Markets and Climate programme through FCDO, and has focused on Ghana, Cameroon, Liberia and Indonesia on the production side, and China on the demand side. Guidance on how companies can engage with national landscape initiatives has been used by international supply chain companies, as well as Ghana’s Forestry Commission in a pilot in the Asunafo Asutifi landscape.

The project overview from IKI states: “The project will leverage Proforest’s relationships with multinational company and multi-stakeholder platforms to support and build capacity for local leadership of landscape level land use planning, management and monitoring in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Peru.”

Landscape-level land use planning, management and monitoring pilots on relevant commodities, including cocoa, palm, beef or rubber, will be combined with capacity building to embed improved and more equitable land use planning, management and monitoring into public and private actors’ work plans and systems. These aim to protect and restore forests and enhance rural livelihoods, whilst safeguarding and raising awareness to ensure respect for land and women’s rights and equitable participation of marginalised groups.

Lessons from these activities will be used as the basis to provide practical guidance for companies on how to work more effectively with existing legislation, policies and initiatives to reduce deforestation.

 At an international level, lessons and findings from production level pilots and capacity building will be used as a basis for dialogue with influential international policy makers and initiatives to improve alignment of supply and demand side activities for tackling deforestation, and to catalyse support from international companies and initiatives for landscape level activities in the focal countries.

More information about IKI is available at https://www.international-climate-initiative.com/en