The Prince of Wales’ International Sustainability Unit, working in partnership with the World Cocoa Foundation and the Sustainable Trade Initiative, was pleased to launch the Cocoa and Forests Initiative at a high-level meeting hosted by HRH The Prince of Wales on Thursday 16th March 2017 at Spencer House, London.
Twelve of the world’s leading cocoa and chocolate companies have signed up to the Cocoa and Forests Initiative, agreeing to a statement of collective intent committing them to work together, in partnership with others, to end deforestation and forest degradation in the global cocoa supply chain, with an initial focus on Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
The initiative will develop, in consultation with the relevant cocoa producing country governments, farmers and farmer organisations, civil society organisations, development partners and other stakeholders, an actionable suite of measures to end deforestation and forest degradation, while improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers working in the cocoa supply chain. These measures are to be announced at the 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP 23) at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference in November, 2017.
This is the first collective industry commitment to focus specifically on ending deforestation and forest degradation covering the global cocoa supply chain. The companies involved in the initiative thus far include Barry Callebaut, Blommer Chocolate Company, Callivoire, Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate, Cémoi, Clasen Quality Chocolate, Cocoanect, Cococo Chocolatiers, ECOM Group, Ferrero, Godiva Chocolatier, Inc., Guittard, Lindt & Sprüngli Group, Marks & Spencer Foods, Mars Chocolate, Meiji Co., Ltd., Mondelez Europe, Nestlé, Olam Cocoa, Ovaltine, Pladis, Ritter Sport, Tesco, The Hershey Corporation and Touton.
The Statement of Intent can be found in English and French on the World Cocoa Foundation Website.
More details on the initiative can be found via the following links:
World Cocoa Foundation
Sustainable Trade Initiative
