Key messages
- An increasing number of private sector companies are making space for sustainability in their corporate governance processes and attempting to embed environmental and social best practices into their operations.
- The role of the private sector in land-use change and deforestation has been highlighted in recent years as some of the world’s largest retailers, manufacturers and traders have made commitments to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains. These efforts were catalyzed in December 2014 when civil society organizations, private sector companies and governments joined together to sign the New York Declaration on Forests.
- These commitments have the potential to dramatically benefit the global environment, as well as the livelihoods of millions of rural people. But it is the way in which these commitments are implemented that will determine whether the desired environmental and social benefits are fully realized.
- The CIFOR/USAID Governing Oil Palm Landscapes for Sustainability (GOLS) program will support effective and equitable implementation of these commitments by helping to align public and private policies and actions, and by delivering targeted, research-based evidence to key stakeholders and practitioners.
