Thread: Big brands join $1-billion forest conservation push for SE Asia

KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Major household brands and palm-oil buyers Nestle and PepsiCo have backed a scheme that aims to invest $1 billion in forest conservation across Southeast Asia over 25 years.


The Rimba Collective, developed by Lestari Capital, a Singapore-based impact investment firm, will fund projects that protect and restore more than 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) of tropical forests in Indonesia and the region.


“By linking conservation funding directly with company operations, it has the potential to be a game-changer for forest protection and restoration,” Michal Zrust, Lestari Capital co-founder, told a virtual launch event this week.


The initiative will complement efforts by other groups to build more sustainable palm-oil supply chains, he added.


In 2020, tropical forest losses around the world equalled the size of the Netherlands, according to monitoring service Global Forest Watch.


Green groups blame production of commodities like palm oil and minerals for much of the destruction of forests, as they are cleared for plantations, ranches, farms and mines.


Cutting down forests has major implications for global goals to curb climate change, as trees absorb about a third of the planet-warming emissions produced worldwide, but release carbon back into the air when they rot or are burned.


Forests also provide food and livelihoods, and are an essential habitat for wildlife.


Indonesia is home to the world’s third-largest tropical forests but is also its biggest producer of palm oil, an edible oil used in everything from margarine to soap and fuel.


Many big buyers of palm oil, besides purchasing certified sustainable oil, have invested in technologies to monitor their supply chains and help stop deforestation, but with limited success so far.


The Rimba Collective will have an initial focus on projects in Indonesia and aims to be the largest business-led conservation initiative in the region.


Its founding partners are consumer goods companies Nestle, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and Singapore-based agribusiness Wilmar International.


They will contribute funding managed by Lestari Capital for a portfolio of forest conservation projects in Southeast Asia.


It is hoped more investors, such as commodity traders, palm oil processors and growers, consumer goods firms and manufacturers, will join the scheme before the first payments are made in December.


Projects will be selected based on their potential to protect and restore large areas of natural ecosystems and critical habitats such as rainforest, peatland and mangroves.


Other priorities are to generate measurable ecosystem benefits - including carbon sequestration, water purification and soil health - and decent livelihoods for local communities.


Benjamin Ware, global head of sustainable sourcing and climate delivery at Nestle, said the firm’s involvement would “enable us to speed up our proactive efforts to protect forests and peatlands as well as human rights”, beyond its supply chain.



FOCUS ON COMMUNITIES


Last year, well-known brands launched a fresh push to stop commodity supply chains fuelling forest loss.


It was met with scepticism by many green groups after the same set of companies failed to meet a 2020 target to purchase only sustainably produced commodities.


Environmentalists urged firms in the Rimba Collective to ensure their entire supply chains are not linked to deforestation and to transparently report on progress.


Grant Rosoman, senior advisor at Greenpeace International, said more finance for forest conservation, especially led by communities, was desperately needed.


He welcomed the long-term nature of the new scheme and the fact that its results will be verified independently.


But transparency around how it works, including its costs, payments and the organisation running it, are crucial, he added.


“We are also concerned that with carbon sequestration as one of the stated benefits, carbon credits may be claimed and sold to climate polluters,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.


Marcus Colchester, a senior policy advisor at the UK-based Forest Peoples Programme, called the Rimba project “innovative” and urged Indonesia to help by simplifying its onerous process for recognising customary land rights.


Kevin Woods, a senior policy analyst at Washington-based nonprofit Forest Trends, said studies showed results are poor when forest conservation does not support those rights.


“This can be best achieved by funds going through local organisations that work closely with forest-based communities on ... conservation,” he said.


Big brands join $1-billion forest conservation push for SE Asia | Reuters

Probably about one tenth of a percent of what is required to stop the chinky parasites sucking up every forest in the region.

I think our seas are more important to the planet, and the Chinese are busily hoovering up all the fish and causing crashes in ecosystems.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

the chinky parasites sucking up every forest in the region.

Originally Posted by misskit

Its founding partners are consumer goods companies Nestle, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and Singapore-based agribusiness Wilmar International.

The typical "chinkies" companies...

It was here some time ago something about these "chinkies"

Trailer THE GREEN LIE english

I am guessing but "chinkies" are Chinese people? Or is it a lose term that can be applied to other Asian nationalities???

Originally Posted by Latindancer

I think our seas are more important to the planet, and the Chinese are busily hoovering up all the fish and causing crashes in ecosystems.

Yes. That and beef production

"The Rimba Collective, developed by Lestari Capital, a Singapore-based impact investment firm, will fund projects that protect and restore more than 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) of tropical forests in Indonesia and the region."

"...invest $1 billion in forest conservation across Southeast Asia over 25 years."

On average, that amounts to 20,000 hectares per year.


"In 2020, tropical forest losses around the world equalled the size of the Netherlands, according to monitoring service Global Forest Watch."

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the European Netherlands has a total area of 41,545 km2 (16,041 sq mi), including water bodies; and a land area of 33,481 km2

1 square kilometer = 100 hectares, so 41,545 km2 = 4,154,500 hectares. In one year.

Feel free to check my maths: 20,000 divided by 4,154,500 times 100 = 0.48% will get 'conserved'. Assuming that the rate of deforestation does not get worse.

I applaud any effort to do the right thing. At the same time, one cannot help but feel that this is just a tiny slice of corporate marketing bugets going into a cynical scheme to demonstate how green they are, when in fact they are not.

Pepsi invests heavily in marketing like Coca Cola. The brand invested 4.1 billion dollars in marketing in 2017. Out of the total, 2.4 billion dollars went towards advertising. This was however a bit less than its 2016 expenditure when it spent 4.2 Billion dollars on marketing out of which 2.5 billion dollars went to advertising.

Pepsico advertising and marketing budget - notesmatic

So a share of USD1 Billion over 25 years looks trivial. We don't know how big a share PepsiCo will take. If it took all of the fund alone it would still be less than 1% of its global marketing budget over the next 25 years.

Originally Posted by Grumpy John

I am guessing but "chinkies" are Chinese people? Or is it a lose term that can be applied to other Asian nationalities???

The chinkies come from Chinastan. Try and keep up.

Originally Posted by Shutree

On average, that amounts to 20,000 hectares per year.

But the oceans absorb more CO2 and produce more O2!