All Articles About Land Use & Biodiversity

BSR Insight Article: Native Organic Products Head Leontino Balbo Jr. on Large-Scale Organic Farming

Kimberly Murphy, Former Conference and Special Projects Manager

During a recent interview, BSR Conference 2012 plenary speaker Leontino Balbo Jr., executive vice president of Brazil's Native Organic Products, discussed how his organic food and beverage company became the world's largest organic sugarcane producer. Read more →

Posted: September 4, 2012 | Topics: Environment, Food, Beverage & Agriculture, Land Use & Biodiversity

BSR Insight Article: Rethinking the ‘Land Grab’

Laura Ediger, Associate Director, Advisory Services

The hunt for resources--fuel, water, labor, and minerals--is occurring on a global scale, as companies search for ways to minimize costs and risks while optimizing efficiencies. And today, arable land is becoming a global commodity, in demand to provide food, biofuels, and raw materials such as timber or cotton. The rapid growth in international land deals has heightened concerns about "land grabbing," and the social and environmental impacts of major land investments. A database recently published by the nonprofit organization GRAIN details land deals reported since 2006 (for food crops only) and demonstrates the international nature of these transactions. The list counts more than 400 deals in 66 countries, with funds arriving from nearly 60 different locations. And while agribusiness is the predominant industry sector involved, financial companies and sovereign wealth funds also made up about one third of all deals. Media reports often paint the transfer of land rights as driven by food-security concerns, a kind of calorie-hoarding by countries with low amounts of arable land per capita. Demand for biofuels is another important motivator, as policy and regulations provide additional stimulus for the sector's growth. Meanwhile, investors are finding physical land assets increasingly attractive as an opportunity for diversified portfolios and reduced exposure to inflation. These factors simply add to the ongoing trend of agribusiness companies seeking opportunities to develop commodity supplies in or near key markets. While the World Bank and others hope that land transfers can bring economic growth and increased productivity to small-scale farmland, there are also concerns about the negative environmental and social impacts that can accompany shifts in resource management. Recent cases include Sierra Leone, where protesters have called for a review of large land investment deals, and Ethiopia, where low prices prevailed but the national government has vowed to charge more for investor access to farmland. Whether international or domestic, large-scale agricultural investment carries a wide range of potential risks. Clearing of grassland or forests for agriculture or monoculture plantations can cause serious environmental degradation. The water withdrawals needed to make farmland productive may tax the natural ability of the local watershed to recharge groundwater reserves. And local farmers or herders may be displaced and lose their traditional land rights, along with their livelihoods. What should companies do to ensure that investments are well-managed and provide benefits to the host communities and countries? A group of investors have created the Farmland Principles to guide responsible investment, covering environmental sustainability, respect for labor and human rights, respect for existing land and resource rights, and expected business and ethical standards. The UN is also piloting a set of voluntary Responsible Agricultural Investment Principles that include requirements related to existing land rights, food security, transparency, consultation, and social and environmental impacts. Both sets of principles provide important perspectives on the risks associated with agricultural investments, as well as insights on the potential social and economic benefits. In a recent report, the World Bank argues that these investments can help increase agricultural productivity and local economic growth, if managed appropriately. Food and agriculture companies have also begun to see the opportunity for more direct socioeconomic benefits going to farmers and communities as a corollary to the development of their farm-based supply chains. Here are some specific ways large-scale agriculture can be managed to mitigate harm and provide local benefits: Look at the big picture first: Crucial environmental and social impacts must be considered from the beginning, in the process of site selection and project design. Companies should consider the overall ecosystem of a land asset (including the human element). In addition to physical feasibility criteria such as soil characteristics and water availability, the broader set of ecosystem services should be assessed: What crucial services--nutrient cycling, water purification, or provision of food (wild or not)--does the piece of land provide in its current state? Tools are increasingly available to help capture a wide range of ecosystem services to help inform selection and impact mitigation plans. Take rights seriously: In many places where land-use rights are being transferred, land-tenure regimes and legal frameworks may not protect smallholders or people with more traditional or informal land-use arrangements. Companies can learn from the experience of the extractives industry, where land transfers that did not sufficiently address existing claims have led to mistrust, protests, and the loss of license to operate. Thorough community engagement and application of principles such as free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) are valuable investments for acquisitions that may be displacing large numbers of local people or disrupting current land-use patterns. Land-use transfers should be voluntary, transparent, and respectful of traditional and informal land-use rights. Mitigate impacts: Specific environmental and social impacts may vary based on the type of production--timber or cotton, perennial or annual--meaning that companies should make sure they thoroughly understand and address their own site-specific impacts. Whether through crop rotation, inclusion of buffer zones, or use of soil- and water-conserving techniques, large-scale land cultivation can take advantage of traditional and innovative methods for improving environmental impacts, including using local indigenous knowledge. On the social side, companies will need to consider not only impacts on nearby communities, but also relations with the resident and/or migrant workforce that will be providing labor for planting, harvesting, and processing. Invest in communities: As mentioned above, local communities and regions do have the potential for economic benefit from these large-scale projects, but economic interactions should be managed carefully to reduce the risk of negative impacts and to maximize social benefits. Development of infrastructure and new employment opportunities can provide economic value to local communities, but this must be done appropriately to ensure that value also accrues locally (e.g. by working with local residents and local businesses) while not negatively disrupting local economies. The global search for land has prompted companies to rethink how they work with local farmers, even on land the business owns. Models in which companies lease land back to smallholders and provide technical guidance as well as seeds and agricultural inputs may improve agricultural productivity while maintaining continuity of local livelihoods. As land becomes increasingly scarce, even as demand for food and fuels continues to grow, companies that are responsive to local needs and potential environmental impacts should see their investments bear fruit for their workers, communities, and shareholders. Read more →

Posted: June 5, 2012 | Topics: Community Engagement & Development, Food, Beverage & Agriculture, Land Use & Biodiversity

BSR Insight Article: Free, Prior, and Informed Consent: New IFC Standards Raise the Bar on Stakeholder Engagement

Jasmine Campbell, EMEA Manager, BSR Advisory Services

Following a 2008 UN declaration regarding free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) of indigenous peoples before states or companies operate in their areas, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) introduced new consultation standards and an accompanying guidance note in 2012 that increase requirements for community consultation for private-sector, IFC-funded projects. The mere recognition of FPIC by the IFC raises the bar on stakeholder engagement. The IFC’s requirements make project assessment and consultation processes, including mitigation and compensation measures, more stringent and inclusive of indigenous peoples. As a result, the extractives industry has had to adopt a more rigorous approach to consulting and engaging with local communities, particularly where there are national laws requiring full community consent before granting permits for new projects, such as in the Philippines. BSR will host a full-day workshop on FPIC, led by our energy and extractives experts and other private sector and NGO stakeholders, at the British Museum in London on June 19, 2012. For more information, please visit the event page. Read more →

Posted: June 5, 2012 | Topics: Community Engagement & Development, Economic, Social & Cultural Rights, Land Use & Biodiversity, Stakeholder Relations

BSR Insight Article: KPMG Report Picks 10 Sustainability ‘Megaforces’

Population growth, material resource scarcity, climate change, and energy and fuel are among the issues in sustainability that could have significant impact on the business landscape over the next 20 years, according to a recent report by KPMG International. The “Expect the Unexpected: Building Business Value in a Changing World” report outlines 10 global sustainability “megaforces” that are putting the world on a development trajectory that is “not sustainable.” Others on the list include water scarcity, wealth, urbanization, food security, ecosystem decline, and deforestation. (The report is 180 pages; the executive summary is here.) The report notes that all of these forces are interconnected, and insists that in order to manage the risks, businesses must use a systems thinking approach that addresses the ways megaforces relate to each other. Specific recommendations include: * Companies should turn strategic plans into ambitious targets and actions for sustainability supply chain management. * Companies should seek collaboration with business partners on sustainability issues. * Governments should increase collaboration with the private sector. Read more →

Posted: April 3, 2012 | Topics: Climate Change, Ecosystem Services, Energy, Environment, Financial Services, Food, Beverage & Agriculture, Land Use & Biodiversity, Strategy & Integration, Sustainable Consumption, Water

BSR Insight Article: Corporate Environmental Performance in Practice

Linda Hwang, Former Manager, Research Sissel Waage, Director, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Kit Armstrong, Senior Advisor, BSR

Note: This article is the second piece in a two-part series on the uptake of ecosystem services. Read part one of our series, on the increasing integration of ecosystem services within government, the investor community, and business sectors. Read more →

Posted: April 3, 2012 | Topics: Ecosystem Services, Environment, Land Use & Biodiversity