October 18, 2010
Source: mongabay.com
The world's largest retailer last week announced new sourcing criteria for commodities closely associated with deforestation: palm oil and beef from the Amazon.
Walmart will require sustainably-sourced palm oil for all its private brand products globally by the end of 2015, a move that will provide critical support for initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of palm oil, which has at times been produced at the expense of tropical rainforests in Indonesia and Malaysia. Walmart says the move will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5 million metric tons by the end of 2015 for its U.K. and U.S. private brand products alone.
The retail giant also said it will expand Walmart Brazil's beef sourcing practices to all Walmart companies worldwide by the end of 2015. Walmart Brazil has pioneered a traceability system to ensure that beef does not contribute to Amazon deforestation. Cattle production accounts for 60-80 percent of all deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.
Walmart Brazil's beef traceability program, known as "Selected Quality, Guaranteed Origin", allows a consumer, using a cell phone, to track the origin of beef products in the store all the way back to its source ranch.
"The aim of this program is to help out customers choose more sustainable products at a high quality and the best value," Luiz Carlos Paschoal of Walmart Brazil, said in a video explaining the traceability program.
"We are committed to Amazon conservation and since 2005 we have been working with our suppliers, academics, NGOs and the government to build a more sustainable and transparent supply chain," added Jose Rafael Vasquez, chief merchandising manager Walmart Brazil. "We want to provide our customers with complete and detailed information about the beef they buy in our stores."
"The project is very important to us and we hope it will be a catalyst to change the beef industry in Brazil."
Walmart says it intends to expand the number of products with this level of traceability and transparency. In the Amazon, Walmart Brazil has committed to sustainable sourcing of timber and soy as well as safeguards to ensure that suppliers are not engaged in abusive labor practices.
Earlier this year Walmart committed to reducing 20 million metric tons of CO2 emissions from its private label products and supply chain by the end of 2015.
Deforestation is a larger source of greenhouse gas emissions than all the world's cars, trucks, trains, ships, and planes combined. Slowing or stopping deforestation represents one of the most cost effective ways to reduce emissions, according to analysis by McKinsey & Company, a consultancy.