Leading UK businesses including Barry Callebaut, Ferrero, Tony’s Chocolonely, The Hershey Company, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose, are calling for the UK government to implement long-delayed forest risk commodity regulations.
The businesses are part of the newly formed UK Cocoa Coalition, which was launched in Parliament yesterday. They, alongside NGOs represented by the NGO Forest Coalition, are demanding that regulations, promised in the 2021 UK Environment Act, be laid before Parliament.
Richard Laming, Head of Public Affairs at Ferrero UK & Ireland, who are part of the coalition said,
“The UK Cocoa Coalition shows how the needs of business and protecting the environment are not in competition but go hand in hand. We call on the government to bring forward the much needed forest risk commodities legislation that will be a vital first step in building a more resilient and sustainable cocoa supply chain.”
He was speaking at the launch event in Parliament, organised by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Global Deforestation to demand government action to end deforestation in supply chains.
Alex Sobel MP, APPG co-chair said,
“I welcome the fact that businesses are stepping up and calling for regulation to fight illegal deforestation. This new partnership between business and NGOs will add weight to the argument that this regulation, far from being a new burden on business, will actually bring clarity and support to businesses who have been waiting too long already.”
The UK is the world’s third biggest importer of chocolate and those imports of cocoa are linked to forest loss in Ivory Coast and Ghana. Most cocoa farmers do not earn a living income and farmer poverty drives multiple problems including child labour, gender inequality and deforestation. Some farmers try to increase earnings by expanding fields into forest, however they also recognise that forests are vital for regulating temperature, generating rainfall and mitigating climate change.
The event also heard from cocoa farmers. Leticia Yankey is Chairperson of the Cocoa Mmaa Cooperative Union in Ghana:.
“If the UK deforestation regulation is implemented it will protect the Ghanaian forest reserve and this will go a long way in fighting the climate change which is producing harsh weather for our cocoa farms.”
Cocoa farmers and businesses are also facing uncertainty around the delayed EU Deforestation Regulation. Some have already taken steps to comply and feel let down by the delays Now they want clarity from the UK on its regulations and close alignment with the EU Deforestation Regulation.
Jo Ennion, Group Head of Environment at Sainsbury’s was clear:
“Uncertainty is hurting progress. Over four years after the passing of the Environment Act, uncertainty over forest risk commodity regulations challenges businesses ability to invest. We are asking for a statutory instrument to be published as soon as possible.”
Ruth Davis is UK Special Representative for Nature, and she also spoke at the event,
“There is a strong investment case for building sustainable supply chains,” and she added, “We know what works: an approach that is founded on three things: governance, unlocking finance to invest in forests, and building sustainable supply chains that deliver for nature and for people.”
The NGO Forest Coalition campaigns to see an end to consumer driven deforestation and related human rights abuses in the UK. Cassie Dummett is the Coordinator:
“We want to be able to buy chocolate in the UK without worrying that it has been grown on illegally deforested land. We look to the government to put in place the regulations to ensure this. It is a basic requirement that the commodities we buy should not be causing environmental damage or harming human rights in the countries in which they are grown.”
The NGO Forest Coalition comprises ten UK NGOs: Cool Earth, Earthsight, Environmental Investigation Agency, Fern, Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Global Canopy, Global Witness, Mighty Earth, Rainforest Foundation UK and World Wildlife Fund.
NGO Forest Coalition 