News
Featured updates:
Over 70% of natural rubber companies now have comprehensive sustainability policies
Five years of ZSL assessment and engagement show progress in natural rubber sector, but further action needed from industry to fulfil commitments Data summary The majority of the world’s largest natural rubber companies have published comprehensive sustainability policies, reveals…
Palm Oil Indicator Framework – your feedback welcome
We would like to invite you to provide feedback to us on the SPOTT Palm Oil indicator framework ahead of the 2024 assessments. To ensure SPOTT continues to align with best practice reporting standards, we have made two significant changes…
Latest news:
Moving From Risk to Resilience: Climate Change and the Forestry Sector
The forestry sector is dependent on ecosystem services and stable climatic conditions, both of which are already being impacted by climate change. The entire forestry sector has high exposure to climate risks, however research by ZSL shows that most forestry…
15 additional natural rubber companies selected for assessment
ZSL currently assesses the environmental, social and governance public disclosure and commitments of 15 producers and processors of natural rubber on its SPOTT platform. In 2022, ZSL will expand in scope to assess an additional 15 companies incorporating, for the…
Thematic Guide to Free, Prior & Informed Consent (FPIC)
Setting a clear free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) policy is a vital step for organisations to demonstrate that they commit to avoiding adverse impacts on indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLC) groups. Download guide This guide is designed to…
Oil palm and biodiversity: Company commitments and reporting in 2020
Unsustainable palm oil production plays a significant role in biodiversity loss in tropical forests, and this must be a focus area for both the industry and its stakeholders to remedy. In order to do this, palm oil companies and their…
Exploring Collective Bargaining Agreements in the Palm oil sector – A research report by CNV
Issues associated with labour rights (such as health and safety problems, low wages, lack of contracts, and high production targets that require long working days) are widespread in the palm oil sector. Meanwhile, the trade union culture is not very…
Open Timber Portal and SPOTT: Raising the bar for corporate disclosure in Gabon
In April 2021, the World Resources Institute’s Open Timber Portal (OTP) launched its first transparency rankings of forestry producers in Gabon, aimed at incentivising companies to disclose evidence that they are operating in compliance with forest management legislation. ZSL attended…
Timber and pulp companies failing to report on commitments to Indigenous peoples and local communities
Assessment summary: ZSL (Zoological Society of London) is calling on the world’s leading timber and pulp companies to overhaul their commitments to local and indigenous communities and biodiversity conservation, as they release their annual assessment of 100 of the…
Sustainable finance and tropical forestry: a series of financial institution case studies
How do different financial institutions approach non-financial information and ESG issues when considering tropical forestry companies and supply chains exposed to timber, pulp and paper products sourced from tropical regions? To illustrate the variety of approaches which are available to…
Congo Basin countries move toward a timber export ban
Following the virtual intergovernmental conference of ministers from Congo Basin countries, a communique was released, agreeing a log export ban covering seven of the member nations of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC). This group includes Cameroon,…
Keeping track of companies’ commitments to the environment
Deforestation due to commodity production, most famously, palm oil, has gained increased public awareness over recent years. The commodity’s production has been a dominant force in wildlife declines seen in many countries, particularly in Southeast Asia. However, with the product’s…
