We contributed to the development and improvement of several tools and metrics that enhanced the sustainability of agricultural commodity trade. These included TRASE, a commodity-specific traceability tool, the ENCORE natural capital dependency tool for the finance sector, and the Sector Materiality Tool developed by Science Based Targets for Nature (SBTN) that is assisting companies on their journey towards sustainability. These tools are helping to standardize and drive the uptake of indicators to measure, mitigate, and reduce supply chain impacts. They can therefore be used to measure implementation of elements of Targets 15 and 16 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
The PLANGEA tool, developed in Brazil, supports land use and restoration planning, recording at least 10,000 user sessions from 8,000 unique users. This tool can be used to support decision-making related to national implementation of Targets 1 and 2 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. PLANGEA has also been instrumental in informing national regulations on priority restoration areas and vegetation protection, including the Brazilian PLANAVEG legislation.
To exend our work in Brazil into the private sector, we ran a pilot project with Gavea (a tech startup developing a blockchain-based commodities exchange) and Amaggi (a major soy trader) that demonstrated the feasibility of traceability to the individual farm. We also developed the Trade Tools Navigator, a comprehensive repository of tools relevant to trade, impacts of trade and commodity supply chains.
Measuring Biodiversity Impact: Innovative Metrics for Sustainable Trade
Our research has pioneered cutting-edge biodiversity metrics to gauge the impact of agricultural expansion on habitats worldwide. Through studies like those by Duran et al. (2020), Green et al. (2020), Maney et al. (2022), Ball et al. (2024) we’ve helped develop a series of metrics to assess how biodiversity changes due to habitat conversion for agriculture.
Two standout metrics, the Species Threat Abatement and Recovery (STAR) metric and the Ecosystem Integrity Index (EII), offer insights into species importance and ecosystem health, respectively. Additionally, we used the Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII) metric to evaluate the impact of agri-food systems on biodiversity, factoring in land use and greenhouse gas emissions (Boakes et al., 2023). We also reviewed all available metrics for country and business use by providing a summary guidance for all users of metrics (Burgess et al. in press).
Our efforts gained traction within business networks eager to integrate these metrics into their sustainability initiatives. Notable collaborations include contributions to renowned groups like the Science Based Targets for Nature, the Task Force for Nature Related Financial Disclosure, the Fashion Pact, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (regenerative agriculture biodiversity metrics working group) and the EU Business4Nature group.
The role of online games in delivering change for agricultural commodities
Indonesia Landscape Game 2 Development: Youth engagement and co-design. CIFOR and IPB University developed Landscape Game 2 as an innovative tool for capacity building on landscape approaches and sustainable commodity trade especially for academia. During the development processes, more than 100 youth (high-school and university students, as well as young researchers) helped in co-designing and testing the game. The game, an Android based application, has been launched on the Google Playstore and used in classes in IPB University.
CoPalCam is a strategy game offering players the opportunity to identify spaces for positive change on palm oil supply chains in Central Africa.
CamPod is a strategy game offering players the opportunity to identify spaces for positive change on cocoa supply chains.