Nestle, Danone join industry leaders in call action to halt nature loss

GLOBAL – Nestle and Danone have joined industry leaders in a call to action, urging global policymakers to adopt and enforce robust measures to combat nature loss.

This initiative, spearheaded by Business for Nature, was laid out in a letter ahead of the UN Biodiversity Conference, scheduled from October 21 to November 1 in Cali, Colombia.

The collective letter outlines a comprehensive Biodiversity Plan, emphasizing the urgent need for businesses and financial actors to protect and restore ecosystems.

Key recommendations include sustainable resource management, reducing environmental impacts, and integrating nature considerations into decision-making processes.

The coalition advocated aligning financial systems to support a nature-positive, net-zero, and equitable economy as part of a broader effort to strengthen global agreements addressing critical nature loss challenges.

Laurent Freixe, CEO of Nestlé Latin America, highlighted the importance of biodiversity in regions like Colombia, which hosts 10% of the planet’s biodiversity.

“At Nestlé, we have set ambitious targets to ensure 50% of our key ingredients are sourced from farmers adopting regenerative agriculture practices by 2030. We strongly support the call for governments and the private sector to help halt and start reversing nature loss by 2030,” he said.

In 2021, Nestlé announced an investment of SFr1.2bn (US$1.3bn) over five years, targeting biodiversity, soil conservation, and water cycle regeneration.

By 2023, 15.2% of Nestlé’s ingredients were sourced from regenerative agriculture, reflecting significant progress in its environmental initiatives.

On the other hand, Eva Zabey, CEO of Business for Nature, called for governmental support to provide regulatory certainty, which is essential for transforming business operations and supply chains.

“Our policy asks governments how they can make this a reality. Only through collective effort will we be able to drive the global systemic change needed for a nature-positive, net zero, and equitable economy,” he noted.

The initiative aligns with previous commitments from major FMCG companies, such as Nestlé, Unilever, and PepsiCo, which signed a framework agreement for transitioning to regenerative agriculture last year.

The commitment was part of the “Regenerating Together” project, launched by the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform to promote sustainable agricultural practices.

Despite these efforts, the environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) advocacy group, the FAIRR Initiative, points out that many ample food and retail companies still need concrete targets for regenerative agriculture despite endorsing the practice.

Subscribe to our food and agriculture industry email newsletters that provide busy executives like you with the latest news insights and trends from Africa and the World. SUBSCRIBE HERE