Signatories of the COP15 Business Statement, which include GSK, H&M Group and Nestle and which have combined annual revenues of more than $1.5 trillion, said the world needed to move past voluntary reporting rules.Some progress has been made, but it’s not enough,” Rebecca Marmot, chief sustainability officer at consumer goods company Unilever, said.
The COP15 talks in Montreal will see countries try to agree a new Global Biodiversity Framework to combat the crisis that threatens over one million plant and animal species with extinction. “Assessment and disclosure are an essential first step to generate action, but it will only have an impact if it is made mandatory,” the 330 businesses said in their statement.
Unilever, for instance, said it had committed to a deforestation-free supply chain by 2023, implying that its palm oil, paper and board, tea, soy and cocoa will not come from areas where natural ecosystems have been converted into farmland.