Global Compact International Yearbook Ausgabe 2011

Best Practice
Environment
Carrefour
Carrefour's commitment
for 2020: work towards
"Zero deforestation"
Engaged since 1997 in an approach to control the sourcing of its wood supplies, Carrefour
has been working with WWF since 1998 to privilege FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)
certified wood. The Group is now stepping up these efforts to positively influence all
concerned supply chains through appropriate purchasing practices in order to preserve
biodiversity, to reduce associated greenhouse gas emissions, and to ensure the respect of
human rights.
By Sevda Latapie-Bayro
At the end of 2010, Carrefour gave new
impetus to its forest-linked purchasing
practice by setting an ambitious goal:
work towards “Zero deforestation” by
2020. With this new target, Carrefour’s
Aerial view of flooded forest –
Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brazil
ambition is to preserve natural resources,
biodiversity, and to help put an end to
deforestation. Indeed, the Group has
established strict rules that will apply to
a part of its forest-related sourcing. This
commitment – initiated in 2010 during
the UN International Year of Biodiversity –
will be detailed and implemented in 2011
on the occasion of the International Year
of Forests, declared by the United Nations.
This global policy concerns a wide range
of products linked to forest management
issues, for example:
• goods made from wood, paper, and
pulp;
• agricultural commodities whose production
can have an impact on forests
(especially palm oil);
• non-merchandising items such as commercial
publications or cash register
receipts.
For these products, Carrefour will improve
its purchasing practices worldwide,
and will work with its suppliers to ensure
legality and no associated land conversion
of natural forests and peat lands.
Moreover, the Group is committed to
promoting responsible consumption
among its consumers and to raise their
awareness on this issue.
For 100% traceable, certified palm oil
In its efforts to protect biodiversity and
to prevent deforestation, Carrefour is
an active member of the Roundtable
on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and in
this case promotes the production of
100% traceable and certified palm oil.
The RSPO was formed in 2004 with the
objective of promoting the growth and
use of sustainable oil palm products
through credible global standards and
engagement of stakeholders.
Sustainable palm oil production
only officially began at the end of 2008.
In 2009, 1.3 million tons were produced
out of a total production of approximately
45 million tons. In 2010, this
production reached 3.8 million tons,
that is 8 percent of the global production.
The supply chain for palm oil and
its byproducts, however, is very complex
and lacks traceability. There are very few
mills and factories that produce certified
palm oil, most being certified only for a
part of their production. They therefore
still sell a mix of palm oils – both certified
and non-certified – and in parallel
purchase certificates for their quota of
certified palm oil, off the Internet, via a
system similar to the purchase of green
electricity. These “green” certificates are
only a first stage in the international
process. To promote a more transparent
market, Carrefour defends the idea
of palm oil production that is certified
and can be traced from start to finish.
In 2010, the Group committed to
developing a palm oil Carrefour Quality
Line in Indonesia, sharing its 18 years of
global experience on agricultural quality
lines. In August, Carrefour Indonesia
actually started the project in association
with several local NGOs. This new
quality line will provide Indonesian consumers
with the possibility to choose
products that do not result in further
deforestation and that ensure working
conditions that comply with the rules of
the International Labour Organization.
MORE THAN 15 YEARS OF COMITMENT
of FORESTS AND BIODIVERSITY
1997–1998:
• Carrefour signed a partnership with
WWF France to preserve natural resources
and biodiversity.
2003:
• Carrefour invested in the European
Commission’s Forest Law Enforcement
on Government and Trade action plan
aimed at establishing a framework for
fighting the illegal sale of wood.
2006:
• Carrefour was the only French retailer
to join the RSPO and became a member
of the RSPO Executive Board in 2009.
Since 2007:
• Awareness campaigns on palm oil
issues to all own-brand suppliers and
inventory of the use of palm oil in its
own-brand products.
• Carrefour has been a member of the
Round Table for Responsible Soy.
Since 2008:
• Carrefour European Purchasing Office’s
assortment of outdoor wood furniture
consists of FSC-certified products and
acacia, a species for which the suppliers
are involved in a process of certification
with the Global Forest and Trade
Network Vietnam.
• In 2008, Carrefour France substituted
the use of palm oil in its own-brand
crisps.
2009:
• Carrefour committed to using certified
palm oil in all own-brand products
throughout the world by 2015.
• Carrefour is encouraging its suppliers
to use preferably segregated certified
palm oil or Greenpalm certificates for
all palm oil supply.
• The Group supported the UN’s “Seal
the Deal” campaign calling for an
ambitious, fair, and effective deal
including forest preservation. Carrefour
also signed the Copenhagen
Communiqué.
• The Carrefour Group has increased
the percentage of recycled or certified
paper for its commercial publications
and aims at achieving the target of 100
percent recycled or certified paper for
catalogues in the Group in 2012.
2010:
• Carrefour France bought Greenpalm
certificates for the equivalent of the
total volume of palm oil used in its
own-brand products.
• Carrefour, together with Tetra Pak,
launched FSC-certified packaging for
several of its private brand products
including fruit juice and milk. With this
action, Carrefour was the first French
retailer to deploy FSC beverage cartons
on a massive scale.
• Carrefour welcomed the European
Commission’s 2008 proposed legislation
to establish rules for those involved
in the trade of wood and its byproducts.
In 2010, the Group was one of the
founders of the Timber Retail Coalition,
set up to support the European Commission’s
efforts to create EU-wide
regulation as a crucial step toward the
widespread adoption of responsible
timber-sourcing practices.
• The Carrefour Group announced on the
occasion of the Consumer Goods Forum
a large-scale collective target for the
protection of forest resources: work
towards “Zero deforestation” by 2020.
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