Today, JDE and other forward-thinking, agriculture-centric companies,
joined the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), in the launch of a new initiative to designed to protect and restore biodiversity within their supply chains and product portfolios. This coalition – named “One Planet Business for Biodiversity” (OP2B) – was formally launched on stage at the United Nations Climate Action Summit by Emmanuel Faber, Chairman and CEO of the global food and beverage company Danone.

OP2B members include Danone, Balbo Group, Barry Callebaut, DSM, Firmenich, Google, Jacobs Douwe Egberts, Kellogg Company, Kering, Livelihoods Funds, L’Oreal, Loblaw Companies Limited, Mars, Migros Ticaret, McCain Foods, Nestlé, Symrise, Unilever and Yara. The nineteen companies sell products in more than 120 countries and have combined total revenues of circa USD $500 billion.

One Planet Business for Biodiversity (OP2B) is a unique international cross-sectorial, action-oriented business coalition on biodiversity with a specific focus on agriculture, launched within French President Macron’s One Planet Lab framework. The coalition is determined to drive transformational systemic change and catalyze action to protect and restore cultivated and natural biodiversity within the value chains, engage institutional and financial decision makers, and develop and promote policy recommendations in the CBD COP 15 framework to be held in 2020.

Actions are focused around three pillars:

• Scaling up regenerative agricultural practices;
• boosting cultivated biodiversity and diets through product portfolios;
• and eliminating deforestation / enhancing the management, restoration and protection of high value natural ecosystems.

Emmanuel Faber, Chairman and CEO of Danone, said: “The global food and agricultural ecosystem is critically dependent on biodiversity: from soil regeneration through to water filtration, pest control and pollination, among many of the other building blocks of life on earth. According to many recent scientific studies, we have ten years to reset our course and bend the curve on climate change and wild and cultivated biodiversity loss. We need a collective effort now. It was an honor to launch One Planet Business for Biodiversity at the United Nations today on behalf of our coalition partners. Together, we will strive not only to conserve and restore biodiversity, but also to transform human interaction with, and dependency on, nature.”

Peter Bakker, President and CEO, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), said: “This coalition has specific and ambitious goals that will drive real change in preserving biodiversity. We know that the path forward will be challenging. However, I am confident that, over time, the OP2B platform will transform existing food and agricultural models and achieve a significant, positive impact for both healthy people and a healthy planet.”

Frederic Larmuseau, CEO, JACOBS DOUWE EGBERTS said: "For more than 265 years we have been a proud member of the coffee industry. During this time the industry has evolved into one of the largest agricultural commodities in the world. Since 1990 we have been actively engaging with coffee farming communities around the world with the goal of promoting Good Agricultural Practices designed towards sustainable and yield-increasing cropping systems that include diversification, intercropping and conservation of nature. By 2025, the JDE Common Grounds program will have reached more than 500,000 smallholder farmers thanks to the strong collaborative efforts of our Public and Private partners. As the industry continues to evolve, it is these types of collaborative efforts that will ensure it remains a sustainable industry especially for smallholder farmers, the next generation of coffee entrepreneurs and their local communities. The OP2B coalition is another great example of the collaborative mindset required to preserve the coffee sector for the generations to come."

Read the full press release or visit www.op2b.org for more information on the OP2B coalition.