Trase - Intelligence for sustainable trade

🌳  After months of uncertainty, the European Union has rejected last minute amendments to weaken the #EUDR, but agreed to postpone the regulation by one year. 💡 In our latest insight Trase Co-Directors Helen Bellfield and Toby Gardner and Global Engagement lead André Vasconcelos detail what needs to happen now to successfully implement the EUDR. ➡️The European Commission should prioritise delivering a robust benchmarking system. As deforestation varies within countries, Trase recommends risk classifications which distinguish between regions within countries and specific commodities. ➡️Member states should make swift progress on ensuring they are sufficiently resourced to enforce the EUDR. Competent authorities must be nominated and supported to put in place risk-based plans for targeting enforcement checks which are workable and pragmatic. ➡️Operators and traders should continue to work towards compliance by putting in place the necessary due diligence processes for assessing deforestation and legal risk in their supply chains. Trase data can be used as one source of evidence in the risk assessment step of the due diligence process. ➡️Producer countries should engage with the #EU and secure the necessary resources to develop their national traceability systems, support local producers in achieving readiness and learn from best practice examples. Read our latest insight: https://lnkd.in/e862pMZ6

🔎 Competent authorities in EU member states are gearing up to check compliance with the EU #deforestation regulation. By the end of this year, they must start to monitor products containing agricultural commodities such as beef, soy, cocoa and palm oil entering and leaving their country to ensure that they are deforestation-free and produced legally.   📢 Last week, Trase’s co-director Helen Bellfield spoke at a webinar for competent authorities organised by ClientEarth focusing on the data that is currently available to enable competent authorities to assess non-compliance risks under the #EUDR. 💡 While there is no single solution that will meet the needs of competent authorities, there are many well-established publicly available datasets that provide a robust starting point for assessing risks of non-compliance and company due diligence. Targeted enforcement action can then be supported with commercially available high-resolution imagery and ground truthing where needed. 📊 “Open data has a crucial role in the EUDR for assessing the risks of non-compliance for both companies and competent authorities”, said Helen. “Because it is freely available to all, open data provides a level playing field and enables independent monitoring and accountability. Open data also brings transparency to methods and limitations as well as legitimacy through peer review,” she explained. 🌳 Helen will be attending a ClientEarth event in Rome in May for an open exchange around the shared goal of effective and efficient EUDR implementation with policy and technical experts from #EU member states and civil society representatives from Brazil, Cameroon, Ghana, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. Find out more about how Trase can support the EUDR: https://lnkd.in/dW_5fycf

📢 Trase researcher Valentin Guye was part of the SUSTAIN-COCOA webinar panel and shared insights on the role of #cocoa supply chains in forest degradation and tips to make it more #sustainable. 🍫 The cocoa sector is the major driver of tropical #deforestation in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana with the majority of exports flowing through indirect supply chains. 🌳 “Sustainability interventions by companies should cover indirect deforestation, indirect drivers and indirect supply chains,” said Valentin Guye. 🤝 Proper sustainability achievements require companies to:  - pay attention to broader land use dynamics than just on-farm cocoa deforestation - consider interactions with the broader economy and institutions - bring more transparency, commitment and action in the indirect supply chains - follow existing standards to increase accountability [Accountability Framework initiative (AFi)] ▶️ Find out more about the trading companies and consumer markets most exposed to deforestation in Côte d’Ivoire: https://lnkd.in/eT5CvVew

Reminder! 🔔 Join Trase researcher, Valentin Guye, for the SUSTAIN-COCOA webinar on Wednesday, 26 March, from 09:00 - 10:15 GMT, and learn about the steps to create a more #sustainable cocoa industry. 💡 Key findings to be presented include: • The role of cocoa supply chains in #deforestation and child labour  | Dr. Valentin Guye, Trase/ Université catholique de Louvain • The unrealised potential of cocoa agroforestry for carbon removals | Dr. Wilma J. Blaser Hart, The University of Queensland • Bridging supply chain and landscape interventions with a supply shed approach  | Dr. Federico Cammelli, ETH Zürich/University of Cambridge • Opportunities of #EUDR for sustainable cocoa sourcing | Dr. Christian Bunn, Alliance Biodiversity & CIAT Register ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ejZv2pCM https://lnkd.in/e-ZUxn9Y 

⚠️ As we approach #COP30, the Global Forest Assessment’s 2030 Forest Vision sets out eight urgent actions for governments to prioritise in 2025 if they are to get on track to meet goals to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030, pledged at COP26. 🌳 The call-to-action urges renewed ambition from governments to deliver on promises to protect, conserve and restore the world’s forests, and outlines guidance on how to achieve this, including through the promotion of deforestation-free trade. 📢 Find out more about the 2030 Forest Vision which has been endorsed by leading civil society and research organisations including Trase founding partners SEI – Stockholm Environment Institute and Global Canopy: https://lnkd.in/dSrx2y5Q Read the eight actions ⬇️ Forest Declaration Assessment #Climateaction #Deforestation

⚠️ The food we consume plays a critical role in forest loss. Forests are destroyed to produce globally traded commodities, harming the #climate, biodiversity and communities. It is estimated that 90-99% of tropical deforestation is directly or indirectly driven by #agriculture. 🌳 The 2025 International Day of Forests revolves around the crucial relationship between global food systems and forests. The expansion of five globally traded agricultural commodities with a huge impact on forests - beef, soy, palm oil, wood pulp and cocoa - drives #deforestation and peat loss in six key producing countries, Trase research showed. 📈 The 2023 study quantified the resulting emissions and connected them to the volumes sourced by importing markets, and found that deforestation linked to the production of these commodities generates emissions equivalent to 444 million tonnes of CO2 per year. This is greater than the #UK's annual greenhouse gas emissions. 🤝 It’s vital that international action is taken to address the deforestation caused by global food consumption, in order to protect #biodiversity and address climate change. 💡 Dr Carina Mueller, researcher at Trase, explains the key findings of the study in this video ⬇️

💡 How can responsible sourcing drive supply chain resilience and long-term business success? What can responsible sourcing professionals learn from procurement? And is regulation enough to drive widespread responsible sourcing? 📢 These are all topics under discussion at the Innovation Forum’s Responsible Sourcing and Ethical Trade event which Trase Communications Lead - Mary Frampton - is attending this week. 🤝 The two-day session is focused on exploring how companies can develop and implement robust #humanrights due diligence and responsible sourcing policies, the practical implications of evolving legislation, and what this means for business operations and the future of ethical trade. #IFSocial25 #Supplychain #Duediligence

📊 What is the role of data in tackling commodity-driven #deforestation and associated human rights abuses? 🌳 Join us for a discussion exploring #sustainable supply chains at The Marmalade Festival on 2 April, 12:30-14:00 BST, at Wesley Memorial Methodist Church, Oxford. 📢 Hear from: Helen Bellfield – Deputy Executive Director at Global Canopy and co-director of Trase - Intelligence for sustainable trade. Belinda Christine Borck – Tony's Chocolonely (Tony’s Open Chain) public policy lead looking after the EU, US and UK regions. Aisha Raheem-Bolarinwa – Skoll Scholar, CEO and Co-Founder of Farmz2U   The session will be moderated by Emma Gollub, Strategic Engagement Director at Global Canopy. ➡️ Register here: https://lnkd.in/eHYHEvzs Skoll Foundation

💡 Curious about sustainability initiatives in the cocoa industry? Our researcher Valentin Guye will join a webinar by SUSTAIN-COCOA and share insights on the role of cocoa supply chains in #deforestation and child labour. 🌳 The SUSTAIN-COCOA project brings together eight leading research institutes to investigate how supply chain sustainability initiatives can reduce deforestation and increase shade tree cover in #cocoa production systems. 📅 Join this online webinar on Wednesday, 26 March, 9:00 - 10:15 GMT and also hear from Dr. Wilma J. Blaser Hart, The University of Queensland, Dr. Federico Cammelli, ETH Zürich/University of Cambridge, and Dr. Christian Bunn, Alliance Biodiversity & CIAT ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/e-ZUxn9Y ➡️ Register here - https://lnkd.in/ejZv2pCM

🌐 Today AdAstra Sustainability is making open its Orbae platform, which provides high-accuracy land use change emission factors for agricultural commodities worldwide. 📊 This free app can help companies better monitor land conversion in their supply chains and enhance targeted interventions to end #deforestation - https://lnkd.in/es54RUm5 🌿 Last year, AdAstra used Trase data to help a leading food manufacturer identify the origins of #soy in animal feed and track its impact on the carbon footprint of chicken products. Orbae helped calculate corresponding land conversion emission factors at subnational level which enabled the food manufacturer to take action on their greenhouse gas emission hotspots regardless of traceability levels. ➡️ Read more about how the combined insights from AdAstra and Trase led to effective decisions on addressing the climate impacts of soy in the supply chain - https://lnkd.in/eArPw7wy 🔎 Explore the Orbae tool at orbae.eco.