Reducing commodity-driven forest and biodiversity loss by exploring and filling data gaps for due diligence

该项目旨在减少商品驱动的森林和生物多样性损失，并通过向相关利益攸关方和尽职调查程序提供未利用的数据和方法来指导可持续投资。全球近一半的森林砍伐与棕榈油、大豆、牛肉、橡胶、咖啡、可可和木纤维等大宗商品的生产有关。金融和商业部门面临着越来越大的压力，要求它们以负责任的方式进行投资和采购，但由于复杂的全球供应链和数据差距，无害环境的决策不是微不足道的。虽然关于油棕榈油和大豆影响的数据越来越多，但橡胶等其他商品的影响在使用卫星遥感绘制地图方面更具挑战性。橡胶是一种类似森林的树种，由600万小农以小而分散的方式种植，其复杂的全球橡胶供应链基本上是不透明的。因此，尽管橡胶生产已知会导致森林、净碳和生物多样性的损失，但这些影响仍然不确定或未量化，具有挑战性。绿色清洗和渗漏很普遍，橡胶受益于迅速扩大的自愿碳信用市场和“发展”特许权。目前生产的橡胶中只有很小一部分获得了可信的认证。即使是更粗略的基于位置的毁林风险方法也受到缺乏关于橡胶和森林损失的全球空间数据的阻碍。鉴于数据可获得性和公众意识相对较低，金融、企业和政策部门主要关注更容易进入和利用的大宗商品。然而，随着高分辨率卫星数据和云计算的免费提供，加上对不砍伐森林的金融和大宗商品的更大需求，情况现在正在发生变化。该项目将使用天然橡胶作为试点，探索如何利用新的数据和网络来绘制、量化和解决大宗商品驱动的森林砍伐和生物多样性丧失问题。其目的是促进更好的财务和公司决策，并支持零砍伐森林和生物多样性丧失的承诺。我们将建立一个由金融机构、公司、民间社会和科学界组成的多方利益攸关方网络，以综合信息差距，共同创建尽职调查规定的框架和工具。我们还将通过使用地图和应用程序，促进对橡胶造成的森林损失进行免费和高分辨率的监测。这些将建立在我们最近开发的以前所未有的空间和时间分辨率绘制橡胶和森林损失地图的方法的基础上，我们将扩大到全球覆盖范围。新的高分辨率数据还将与现有和正在开发的生物多样性指标相结合，以提供生产景观中生物多样性风险最高的地方亟需的评估。最后，我们将探讨橡胶供应链模式，以提高该行业的透明度。项目合作伙伴包括Global Canopy，它通过统一的问责项目代表11个金融机构；全球可持续天然橡胶平台，其成员占全球天然橡胶产量的50%以上；以及森林管理委员会，它制定了橡胶保管链认证。学术伙伴约克斯德哥尔摩环境研究所和爱丁堡皇家植物园在遥感、生物多样性模型、生物多样性影响指标和商品供应链模型方面贡献了丰富的经验。加在一起，合作伙伴拥有可能改变天然橡胶市场的数据和杠杆，这是及时的，因为目前全球橡胶价格较低，预计将再次上涨。通过这一试点项目获得的网络和知识将使我们能够扩大到其他有毁林风险的商品(第二阶段)，在这些商品中有类似的信息需求和执行挑战。

The project aims to reduce commodity-driven forest and biodiversity loss and to guide sustainable investments by making untapped data and methods accessible to relevant stakeholders and due diligence processes. Almost half of global deforestation is linked to the production of commodities such as palm oil, soy, beef, rubber, coffee, cocoa and wood fibre. There is increasing pressure on finance and business sectors to invest and source responsibly but, due to complex global supply chains and data gaps, environmentally-sound decision making is non-trivial. While there are increasing data on the impacts of oil palm and soy, the impacts of other commodities like rubber are more challenging to map using satellite-based remote sensing. Rubber, a forest-like tree crop, is planted in a small and scattered fashion by six million smallholders and its complex global rubber supply chains are largely opaque. Consequently, although the production of rubber is known to lead to forest, net carbon and biodiversity loss, these impacts remain uncertain or unquantified and challenging to address. Greenwashing and leakage are widespread, and rubber benefits from both rapidly expanding voluntary carbon credit markets and 'development' concessions. Only a very small fraction of currently produced rubber is credibly certified. Even a coarser location-based deforestation risk approach is hampered by the lack of global spatial data on rubber and forest loss. Given the comparatively lower data availability and public awareness the financial, corporate and policy sectors have mainly focussed on commodities with easier entry points and leverage. However, the situation is now changing with the free availability of high-resolution satellite data and cloud computing, combined with greater demand for deforestation-free finance and commodities. This project will use natural rubber as a pilot to explore how new data and networks can be leveraged to map, quantify and tackle commodity-driven deforestation and biodiversity loss in 'difficult' commodities. The aim is to facilitate better financial and corporate decision making and to support zero-deforestation and biodiversity loss commitments. We will develop a multi-stakeholder network consisting of financial institutions, companies, civil society and science communities to synthesise information gaps and to co-create frameworks and tools for due diligence provisions. We will also facilitate free and high-resolution monitoring of rubber-driven forest loss, via the use of maps and apps. These will build on our recently developed method for mapping rubber and forest loss at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution, which we will expand to global coverage. The new high-resolution data will also be coupled with existing and developing biodiversity metrics to provide a much-needed assessment of where biodiversity risks are highest within production landscapes. Finally, we will scope a rubber supply chain model to contribute to greater transparency of the sector. The project partners include Global Canopy who, through the Aligned accountability project represent 11 Financial Institutions; the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber, whose members represent over 50% of the global natural rubber volume; and Forest Stewardship Council who developed a chain of custody rubber certification. The academic partners, Stockholm Environment Institute York and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, contribute extensive experience in remote sensing, biodiversity modelling, biodiversity impact metrics and commodity supply chain models. Combined, the partners have the data and leverage that could transform the natural rubber market, which is timely as currently low global rubber prices are expected to rise again. The network and knowledge gained through this pilot project will enable us to expand to other deforestation-risk commodities (phase 2) where there are comparable information needs and implementation challenges.