Forest Footprint

All kinds of industries have an impact on tropical forests because of their use of forest commodities grown on deforested land. Often these products are hidden way back in the supply chain. As world leaders prepare to take action on deforestation at the Copenhagen climate talks in December, there is a growing realisation that these products may no longer be as easily available, causing supply chain disruption meaning that companies’ values could be at risk.

The Forest Footprint Disclosure Project is designed to let potential investors know the scale of the problem and allow businesses to manage their ‘forest footprints’.

The finance sector is notoriously hard-nosed and we needed them to buy into this project. Getting potential investors to recognise that an organisation’s Forest Footprint is an important measure of its success, it was never going to be an easy task.

First we helped to define the Forest Footprint brand and messages. The relationship between a business in the UK and ancient forests on the other side of the world can seem complex and distant. We helped to make it simpler and more direct.

We also helped to define what was in it for businesses. A company’s Forest Footprint will soon be as recognised as its carbon footprint, and be a measure of success and sustainability acknowledged by investors and consumers alike.

Conversely, deforestation could pose an immense earnings risk to investors and businesses. This helped to get the Forest Footprint message across to the sceptical finance sector.

Bringing it all together, we helped to launch the Forest Footprint Disclosure Project at the Department For International Development (DFID) on June 15th 2009 with the support of the Minister, Gareth Thomas. The Good Agency worked on the messaging, the speakers, the agenda, two in-depth reports, press packs and photography.

The launch generated online coverage internationally, being featured on The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Wall Street Journal, The FT, Reuters and many more specialist sites and blogs.

What’s good about it?

The more businesses that are aware of the impact that their direct activities and supply chains have on our dwindling tropical forests, the better they’ll be at minimising it.

Just as importantly, a financial system that takes account of its impact on the environment is a much more stable one.