Land Use and Protection (Including Deforestation)

Business Case

Investor confidence

Companies with clear no-deforestation commitments and verified traceability attract lower cost of capital and avoid divestment pressure.

Legal and regulatory compliance

Regulations such as the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) requires companies to demonstrate that products placed on the EU market are deforestation-free, with geolocation data and due diligence documentation and companies need to establish stringent internal traceability mechanism as a pre-condition to establish traceability.

Market access

Deforestation-linked commodities face increasing import restrictions and trade barriers. Companies with verified deforestation-free supply chains maintain market access while competitors face delays, rejections, and reputational damage.

Operational continuity

Resource and land dependency is a direct factor in supply chain resilience and supply security. Companies sourcing commodities such as timber, palm oil, soy, cocoa, rubber and agricultural goods face escalating supply risk as deforestation and land degradation reduce available productive land globally.

Strategy & Planning

Assessment

Initial Action

Work with sustainability team to identify forest risk commodities, ESIA/IFC aligned requirements and conduct baseline assessment to understand current supplier impact on land for certain number of suppliers or for high-risk areas, including:

  • forests
  • peatland
  • grasslands
  • other protected areas
Intermediate Progress

Evaluate exposure to land pollution risks for selected categories (agrochemical contamination, industrial pollutants, heavy metals, waste). For supply chains sourcing from or near indigenous or local community territories, verify that Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) processes have been conducted, consistent with ILO Convention No. 169 and UNDRIP.

Advanced Practice

Assess the organization's upstream supply chain past activities that require restoration or compensation required to remediate past violations, including both the quantity of the loss (e.g., hectares of natural ecosystems lost or damaged) and the qualities and values that were lost (e.g., ecosystem values and functions, specific elements of biodiversity such as individual species or species assemblages, landscape connectivity, critical watershed values, cultural heritage sites, etc.), using data such as real‑time deforestation/conversion detection through satellite monitoring.

Policy

Initial Action

Set the definition for a deforestation-free supply chain: forest restoration, regeneration or afforestation should not be used to justify (new) gross deforestation as part of deforestation-free supply chains.

Intermediate Progress

Transition from a no-deforestation to a no-conversion policy: avoiding all forms of natural ecosystem conversion linked to commodity supply chains, beyond forests, either by adopting a comprehensive commitment to no-conversion of all natural ecosystems or by establishing / maintaining a commitment to no-deforestation along with a commitment to protect other natural ecosystems.

Advanced Practice

Establish a commitment to restore damaged land use in the expanded list of sourcing locations. Depending on the case, restoration may be: restoration of the actual area that was deforested or converted; restoration of a comparable area on the same site; and/or restoration and/or conservation of comparable area(s) within the same landscape.

Targets

Initial Action

Set time-bound targets to source from suppliers with a commitment for no gross deforestation (as opposed to no net deforestation).

Intermediate Progress

Set goal to remediate all past conversion occurring as a result of company activities between a certain time frame for initial set of locations, as well as geolocation‑data coverage targets, requiring increasing shares of procurement to be traceable to farm/plantation level.

Advanced Practice

Extend no-conversion commitment and remediation goals to full supplier base across all sourcing regions with multi‑year land‑integrity improvement KPIs.

Supplier Selection

Screening

Initial Action

Include land use and deforestation questions in RFIs such as the below, excluding suppliers with recent deforestation or land pollution violations:

  • availability of raw material origin traceability
  • policy or commitment on deforestation, conversion and land pollution
  • certifications on raw materials (FSC, Forest Alliance, RSPO)
  • sourcing site and farm locations for land use risk screening
  • risk assessment practices for deforestation, land pollution and conversion
  • recent violations in supply chain and grievance mechanism for addressing violations
  • land use change tracking practices
Intermediate Progress

Include questions / request for documentation on supplier geolocation, deforestation-free and conversion-free practices, including land use change monitoring data, satellite imagery and any third-party verification or certification results.

Advanced Practice

Require verified conversion free sourcing as prerequisites to apply for RFP.

Selection

Initial Action

Prioritize suppliers with new developments on brownfield land to avoid net new impact.

Intermediate Progress

Score bids based on deforestation impact assessments and land restoration activities, giving preference to suppliers with land restoration initiatives or operating in jurisdictional or landscape programmes (regions tracking deforestation at scale).

Advanced Practice

Select suppliers with full traceability to farm/plantation.

Contracts

Initial Action

Include contract clauses prohibiting deforestation.

Intermediate Progress

Include contract clauses requiring adherence to no-deforestation, no-peat, no-exploitation (NDPE) policies and require land management plans for suppliers in high-risk sourcing regions covering deforestation prevention, conversion avoidance and pollution controls.

Advanced Practice

Include contractual commitments for suppliers to maintain conversion-free status, with annual land restoration targets and independent monitoring, such as third‑party verification of land‑use claims.

Supplier Engagement

Goal Setting

Initial Action

Communicate land use policy requirements to suppliers, including expectations on deforestation, conversion and pollution prevention, and establish joint action plans with suppliers for achieving deforestation-free sourcing.

Intermediate Progress

Establish regular land use focused supplier reviews to track progress on deforestation and conversion commitments and work with suppliers to create land‑risk mitigation plans with timelines for achieving full traceability.

Advanced Practice

Set goals with Tier 1 suppliers on cascading no-conversion requirements to their own suppliers and establishing multi-year targets for verified land restoration across the supply chain.

Capacity Building

Initial Action

Develop supplier training on deforestation risks and prevention / restoration best practices.

Intermediate Progress

Provide in-depth training to suppliers on implementing no-conversion policies, land restoration techniques and pollution prevention practices.

Advanced Practice

Provide advanced training to suppliers on conducting land use due diligence within their own supply chains and building traceability systems to farm/plantation level.

Data

Initial Action

Support suppliers with collecting baseline land use data, including sourcing site locations, land use change history and any deforestation or conversion incidents.

Intermediate Progress

Co-invest in technology such as geospatial monitoring or a shared platform to detect deforestation and track land use.

Advanced Practice

Work with suppliers to implement shared monitoring platforms for real-time deforestation detection and land use tracking across the supply chain.

Certifications

Initial Action

Support suppliers with achieving relevant certifications for priority products (FSC, RSPO, Rainforest Alliance).

Intermediate Progress

Expand support for suppliers with relevant certifications to products (FSC, RSPO, Rainforest Alliance).

Advanced Practice

Encourage and support Tier X suppliers with achieving relevant certifications (FSC, RSPO, Rainforest Alliance).

Advisory

Initial Action

Provide guidance to suppliers on deforestation-free sourcing requirements and land management best practices.

Intermediate Progress

Provide land management expertise to help suppliers implement of land‑use due‑diligence systems, restoration, soil health and pollution prevention practices.

Advanced Practice

Consult and work with suppliers on embedding land use due diligence into their own procurement practices, including developing their own supplier policies and screening processes.

Financial Support

Initial Action

Fund supplier access to land use risk assessment tools, traceability systems and certification support.

Intermediate Progress

Create pooled restoration funds with strategic suppliers dedicated to rehabilitating degraded land in sourcing regions.

Advanced Practice

Provide commercial incentives to suppliers for improvements in land protection performance, such as price, volume, duration, preferred supplier status or premium payment models linked to verified deforestation-free or land restoration outcomes.

Audits

Initial Action

Require suppliers to complete self-assessment questionnaires on land use practices, covering deforestation policies, traceability, certifications and any history of land use violations.

Intermediate Progress

Conduct supplier audits to verify land use claims and validate deforestation-free and conversion-free practices.

Advanced Practice

Sponsor or support independent verification of land use claims across shared supply base.

Project Partnerships & Innovation

Initial Action

Partner with land protection programs on restoration initiatives for high-risk areas.

Intermediate Progress

Launch pilot projects with suppliers to trial advanced monitoring technologies (satellite imagery, geospatial tools) for land use tracking.

Advanced Practice

Partner with suppliers on advanced monitoring pilots (AI-driven deforestation detection, digital product passport, etc) for land assessments.

Continuous Improvement

Metrics

Initial Action

Track progress indicators such as:

  • number of / percentage of suppliers with commitment / policies on no deforestation
  • number of / percentage of suppliers with certification on no deforestation
  • supplier participation in buyer land conservation programs
Intermediate Progress

Track progress indicators such as:

  • percentage of suppliers audited for deforestation
  • hectares of land restored or protected through sustainable procurement / supplier initiatives
  • traceability‑depth metrics (e.g., % mapped to farm)
Advanced Practice

Track progress indicators such as:

  • percentage of suppliers auditing their supply chain (tier 2 and tier 3 suppliers) for deforestation
  • avoided deforestation and associated carbon emissions prevented through procurement decisions
  • percentage of strategic suppliers with cascaded no-conversion requirements

Scorecards

Initial Action

Introduce basic land use criteria into supplier evaluation forms covering deforestation policies, certifications and traceability.

Intermediate Progress

Integrate land use, conversion and restoration KPIs into supplier scorecards and require corrective action plans for suppliers with deforestation or conversion incidents.

Advanced Practice

Weigh land protection indicators such as deforestation-free status, traceability levels and land restoration performance in supplier scorecards, with top performers receiving preferential weighting in tenders and bottom performers required to submit improvement plans.

Impact Verification

Initial Action

Gather feedback from suppliers on effectiveness of no deforestation / land conservation programs and feasibility of no deforestation / land conservation requirements.

Intermediate Progress

Assess whether supplier engagement initiatives are delivering measurable land use improvements across priority sourcing regions, based on satellite-based monitoring data or equivalent evidence to provide independent verification of deforestation-free claims.

Advanced Practice

Verify deforestation-free and conversion-free claims through satellite monitoring and geospatial evidence and calculate avoided deforestation and associated carbon emissions prevented through procurement decisions.

Sources consulted

Animal Welfare and Rights Water