Climate Week 2023:
Alliance for the Preservation of Forests
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‘We can. We will’. This is the rallying cry behind this year’s Climate Week event, currently underway this week in New York City. This annual event is a chance to come together and galvanise action to address the climate emergency.
Climate Week 2023 will focus on the opportunity to work together to unleash the strength and scale of businesses, governments, and the climate community to work on a just, systemic change by scaling up resources, skills, and our determination. It will call for driving down the use of fossil fuels and fossil fuel subsidies, speeding up the transition to net zero where we have the solutions, and looking for new solutions where we don’t. In the words of the organisers: “It may not always be easy, but we can. We will.”
As we continue our journey towards becoming climate positive before 2050, the importance of collective action remains vital. We are proud to work with expert organisations and partners who are championing and driving forward the interconnected challenges of climate, nature and people, convening powerful networks and collaborations to accelerate action.
As Climate Week continues, we asked three key organisations we are part of to share their insights around the key questions which have been fuelling the week’s discussions, from how we will meet the challenges of the latest IPCC report in the face of delays and the use of fossil fuels not coming down fast enough, to what deep, systemic change looks and feels like, to how organisations can prepare for a radically different economy. In the second part of our three-part series, here are some of the insights shared by the Alliance for the Preservation of Forests.
Alliance for the Preservation of Forests
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Alliance for the Preservation of Forests
The importance of co-operating on a global scale
The Alliance for the Preservation of Forests helps companies in their sustainability journeys and in driving change by providing tool boxes, expertise, best practices and helping them to comply with new climate change and deforestation free products regulations. As founding members, we have worked together since 2013 on a range of initiatives including projects tackling deforestation.
According to Director General, Laure d’Astorg, addressing the challenges of the latest IPCC report will require significant efforts and cooperation on a global scale. She cites key strategies and solutions including the importance of sustainability within supply chains – one of the core aims of the APF – and working in close partnership with members to reduce and eradicate deforestation from their supply chains.
“More generally,” she says, “meeting the challenges of the latest IPCC report will require a combination of ambitious actions, strong political will, technological advancements and global cooperation.”
She continues: “Climate resilience and adaptation to climate change will necessarily lead us to deep and transformative shifts in the way societies and economies function, with strong changes across various sectors and levels of society.”
In addition to sustainable supply chains she points to changes ranging from climate education and awareness, to collaborative governance, nature-based solutions.
“Taking action in these different areas is key but only a collective effort from all sectors of society will enable to transition to a more sustainable and climate-resilient future,” she says.
The APF believes that transitioning to sustainable practices is essential in order to prepare for a radically different economy. This involves everything from development of resilience plans to anticipating and adapting to changes in policy and regulation to collaboration between governments, NGOs and suppliers, championing innovation and R&D, eradication of deforestation from supply chains and building trust through transparent reporting and communication on sustainability.
As Laure puts it: “The climate emergency is here. The time for action is now!”
> Insights shared by the WBCSD
> Insights shared by Business for Nature
Continuing the journey together
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Continuing the journey together
We have set stringent standards for ourselves and wish to be accountable for our climate action, every step of the way as we continue to pursue our climate ambitions. We know that we must continue to accelerate progress and there will be challenges along the way. Our partnerships and external collaborations are key to helping leverage insights and cross-sectoral expertise, sustain momentum and hold ourselves to account.
As of the end of 2022 we were well on track with our journey towards climate positivity, having reduced our scope 1+2 emissions by 35% compared with a 2015 baseline and we had attained 90% renewable electricity across our sites and operations in line with our 2025 RE100 commitment. We continue to reduce scope 3 emissions on our way to cutting these by 20% by 2030 as a key milestone in our climate positive journey. On 19 September we received RE100’s ‘Enterprising Leader Award’.
We won’t stop here as we continue to strive to be a force for good. We can. We will.
Read more about how we’re working collaborately to drive change Read more about our climate progress