Responsible value chains and investing in nature

Our consumption affects nature and human rights around the world. International value chains, for example of soy and palm oil, can threaten biodiversity and livelihoods. There is increasing attention to the impacts of international value chains on people and nature, by both policy-makers and businesses, but there is still a lot of work to do. IUCN NL is committed to responsible value chains. In addition, we aim to connect the financial sector and businesses with nature conservation and restoration.

Header photo: Honey project in Murchison, Uganda. © Fanny Verkuijlen / IUCN NL

Finance for nature conservation and restoration

With accelerating global biodiversity loss and global biodiversity targets, raising funding for restoring and conserving nature becomes even more important. Traditional funding from philanthropy and government is no longer sufficient. IUCN NL is therefore working with partner organisations to combine public and private money.

Through the Mobilising More for Climate programme, we work with our local partner organisations to bridge the gap between local entrepreneurs contributing to climate adaptation and mitigation, and public and private investors. In this way, we mobilise more funding for nature restoration and increase climate resilience in Africa and Asia.

Responsible metals and minerals governance

Mining is almost always accompanied by deforestation and biodiversity loss, and is the fourth largest contributor to deforestation worldwide^[1]World Bank – PROFOR. (2019). Mining is almost always accompanied by deforestation and biodiversity loss, and is the fourth largest contributor to deforestation worldwide^[1]. Like soy and palm oil, the demand for minerals and metals is increasing, partly due to the energy transition. This means that mining poses an increasing threat to nature. IUCN NL therefore calls for more transparency in value chains, so that companies processing products from mining can better understand their impact on nature and be held accountable for it.

We also work with civil society organisations to inform citizens about mining plans and make them aware of both local and international legislation. Long-term consequences of mining should also be made transparent, and efforts are made to establish firm agreements on nature restoration after closure by the mining company.

Responsible soy

Soy production has increased more than 13 times since the 1960s. By far the majority of soy is used as animal feed. Especially in South America, a lot of forest is cut down and converted to soy plantations for soy production – at the expense of biodiversity. IUCN NL is therefore working to make the soy value chain more sustainable, from production to consumption.

To this end, we initiated, among others, the Dutch Soy Platform: a platform for companies, the government and civil society organisations to engage in the transition to 100% conversion-free soy in the Dutch value chain. IUCN NL advocates for effective European legislation to safeguard nature and human rights in value chains, but also for active support to farmers and civil society organisations in producing countries.

Responsible palm oil

An awful lot of products contain palm oil: from cosmetics to food products and detergents. To meet this huge and also growing demand, forests are cut down in places like Colombia and Indonesia to make way for palm oil plantations. A lot of nature and biodiversity is lost in the process.

This is why IUCN NL is committed to greening palm oil production by supporting civil society organisations, improving sustainability standards and advocating with government and financial institutions to require sustainable production.