The Forest Footprint Disclosure Project (FFDP) has been publicising its activities at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP15).
The FFDP was launched earlier this year by the UK environmental organisation Global Canopy Programme to provide a means for major corporations to measure, and consequently minimise, the role their business activities play in deforestation.
In the summer it sent a questionnaire to 218 companies worldwide to assess how they are managing their impact on forests. This covered their use of ‘forest risk’ commodities, including timber, palm oil, soya, biofuels, leather and beef. The results will be published in 2010.
The FFDP has also organised events looking specifically at the impact of cattle ranching on the forests of Brazil.
At COP 15, the organisation co-hosted presentations on its work with the Brazilian human rights and environmental bodies Amigos da Terra and Imazon and the US National Wildlife Federation.
Among the businesses backing the FFDP are Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury. The latter’s brand director Judith Batchelar said that the prevention of deforestation was now a “key component” of its sourcing policies.
“We’re managing our forest footprint through working with suppliers and industry experts,” she said.
