What it Means
In 2019, the UN released a report showing that 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, many within decades. Our very livelihoods, food security and health along with those of all other species relies directly on the health of our ecosystems, and preserving the rich and abundant diversity of nature within them. We recognise the urgency to halt further biodiversity loss and the ambition of SDG15 to “sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss”. As a diverse food company we have the opportunity to play a lead role in addressing this issue.
We recognise the greatest biodiversity impacts and opportunities lay outside our direct operations and that we must be purposeful in our ingredient and raw material sourcing and find ways for our procurement activities and supply chain partnerships to be part of the solution.
What We’ve Achieved
We have a long standing commitment to only purchase Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) (mass balance or better) in Australia and New Zealand and more recently bolstered this by adopting Wilmar’s industry leading No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation (NDPE) Policy. The NDPE Policy is designed to break the link between our supply chain and deforestation across all commodities. Our extensive efforts to reduce food waste also plays a role by reducing the demand for increased agricultural output and therefore agricultural land expansion.
What’s Next
We will continue our efforts in the way we sustainably source ingredients to ensure they do not contribute to biodiversity loss. Where possible, we will support regenerative agriculture to enable local biodiversity to thrive and use our brands and products to promote and enhance this key message and activity we’re doing.
