Leveraging climate commitments for positive change on the ground
This month our team are at London Climate Action Week, where Proforest's Executive Director Ruth Nussbaum spoke at a partner event to launch the Deforestation-Free Transition (DEFT) Pathway. Proforesters also attended our first Climate Strategic Week in Brazil, where the team worked on inputs to the 2025-2030 strategy and how our climate work will be developing with companies over the coming years: read on to find out more!
Proforest's Climate Strategic Week
We gathered last week in Brasília for our strategic climate planning week. Participants from all Proforest offices engaged in discussions about how to leverage corporate climate targets, upstream and downstream, to have a positive impact on the ground. We explored the links to our work on Deforestation- and Conversion-Free, regenerative agriculture, and landscape initiatives.
We had the opportunity to visit Embrapa Cerrados where we learned about climate-smart agriculture and important soil health monitoring tools, and convened a panel with Marfrig Global Foods, Coalizão Brasil Clima, Florestas e Agricultura, and Imaflora to discuss the role of the private sector to support Brazil to reach its own climate goals in the form of its NDC. Proforest has an important role to play as a translator of goals and objectives throughout the supply chain. We aim to further engage with SBTi FLAG targets and support to strengthen their role in sectoral transformation. Equally, we want to look beyond climate mitigation towards the importance of action for adaptation, and beyond climate towards linking to people and nature goals in the just transition.
Proforest at the Deforestation-Free Transition (DEFT) Pathway launch
At London Climate Week on Weds 26th June Proforest's Ruth Nussbaum spoke about the importance of engaging the finance sector to end the financing of deforestation at the launch of DEFT Pathway.
DEFT Pathway supports financial institutions to better engage with companies on deforestation, as part of climate and nature transition frameworks. It categorises companies according to their level of progress and highlights priority and timebound next actions. It synthesises existing frameworks, guidance and metrics into practical, actionable next steps and aligns with climate and nature transition plans.
DEFT Pathway is developed by leading institutions and experts working to end market-driven deforestation, including Global Canopy, the UN Climate Champions, Global Optimism, the Accountability Framework initiative (AFi), the Tropical Forest Alliance, Proforest and ZSL, in consultation with leading finance sector networks including Ceres, IIGCC, PRI and the Finance Sector Deforestation Action Group.
Climate memberships to better advise companies
Proforest is now an active member of the International Platform on Insetting, bringing 25 years of experience in agricultural supply chains to conversations on within value chain mitigation.
We believe in sectoral transformation, all the while ensuring a just transition and an efficient use of resources, which are some of the principles we hope to bring to this space. Above all, we want to ensure that carbon accounting rules enable much needed investment in FLAG interventions, and avoid incentivising switching supply chains. Proforest has also joined the Science Based Targets Network's Corporate Engagement Programme so we can better advise clients on setting targets, and how data collection for their deforestation and conversion-free (DCF) policies can be used for tracking progress towards targets.
Join us at future climate events: