Trade and economic growth have improved the quality of life for millions of people around the world, but it has come at a high cost to the environment.
Transforming Markets
The challenge is to be smarter about how we produce and what we buy and sell.
Better Production for a Living Planet (2012)
As market demand for food, fibre and fuel increases in the coming decades, so will the impact on our planet’s natural resources.
The effect on biodiversity is, however, not just linked to global demand, but also to where and how companies and their supply chains obtain and process these vital commodities.
Today,
...are critical environmental challenges linked to the production and consumption of basic commodities that are both renewable (e.g. timber, crops, livestock and fish) and non-renewable (e.g. minerals, oil and gas).
For example deforestation in the Amazon is closely linked to expanding livestock and soy production, and Asia's Coral Triangle is under threat from over-fishing and rising sea temperatures.
The effect on biodiversity is, however, not just linked to global demand, but also to where and how companies and their supply chains obtain and process these vital commodities.
Today,
...are critical environmental challenges linked to the production and consumption of basic commodities that are both renewable (e.g. timber, crops, livestock and fish) and non-renewable (e.g. minerals, oil and gas).
For example deforestation in the Amazon is closely linked to expanding livestock and soy production, and Asia's Coral Triangle is under threat from over-fishing and rising sea temperatures.
Promoting market change
WWF works with major companies and their supply chains to change the way key global commodities are produced, processed, consumed and financed worldwide.
Together with large retailers, manufacturers, traders and investors, commodities can be produced more efficiently and responsibly. In creating demand for such products, significant environmental results can be achieved and markets will become more sustainable.
WWF focuses its efforts on commodities and sectors that most impact the planet's critical regions for biodiversity conservation and those that contribute to humanity’s footprint.
WWF focuses its efforts on commodities and sectors that most impact the planet's critical regions for biodiversity conservation and those that contribute to humanity’s footprint.
- Forests (timber, pulp and paper)
- Fisheries (whitefish, tuna)
- Aquaculture (salmon, and shrimp)
- Agriculture (soy, cotton, palm oil, sugarcane, and livestock (beef and dairy)
- Bio-energy (produced from agriculture and forestry)
Approaches
The approaches being used to promote positive change in these markets include:
- Developing new market standards, promote Better Management Practices (BMP), and increase the supply of certified products through Multi-Stakeholder Engagements such as Roundtables and Dialogues that involve businesses, trade and industry as well as producers and other NGOs;
- Establishin Company Partnerships to improve the sustainability of supply chains and promote sector-wide action in this field;
- Promoting sustainable Commodity Investment with the financial sector.
WWF representative discussing with employee of Lafarge at the gravel pit site of Bernières sur Seine, France
Sustainable wood, sustainable seafood
MSC logo
Wood products carrying the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) label are independently certified to assure consumers that they come from forests that are responsibly managed.
Products carrying the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) label assure consumers that fish and other seafood products come from, and can be traced back to sustainable fisheries.
Products carrying the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) label assure consumers that fish and other seafood products come from, and can be traced back to sustainable fisheries.
Palm oil (Sawi palm) plantation, harvest. Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia.
Cattle grazing in what was once a part of the Atlantic rainforest, now deforested. BahÌa, Brazil
