This article is sponsored by Accountability Framework initative. 

With the twin threats of climate change and ecological collapse looming, companies are under increasing pressure to address the impacts of their supply chains on people and the planet. More than ever, today’s consumers, downstream customers, employees, government regulators, investors and other stakeholders expect supply chains to be sustainable. 

The urgency is particularly acute for companies in the food and consumer goods industries. That’s because the agricultural and forestry commodities they use in their products and packaging can have outsized impacts on nature, climate and human rights. 

Chocolate companies, for example, are facing a barrage of lawsuits and consumer campaigns over allegations of human rights abuses in cocoa supply chains. And in less than a year’s time, companies putting products on the EU market will have to prove that commodity production was legal and not associated with deforestation or forest degradation.  

Yet while thousands of companies have pledged to transform their commodity supply chains, implementation continues to fall short.

A roadmap for responsible supply chains 

To help companies transition their businesses and transform how agricultural and forestry commodities are produced and traded, a group of leading NGOs created the Accountability Framework. It offers companies a holistic and integrated approach to managing deforestation and human rights risks across their operations and supply bases.

The Accountability Framework is applicable worldwide for all agricultural and forestry commodities, and for companies at any position in the supply chain. As it is based on international norms, good practices and broad consensus, following the Framework gives companies confidence that their actions will fulfil stakeholder expectations and drive meaningful progress.

The Accountability Framework guides companies through seven action areas to improve their sustainability policies and practices. Wherever companies are on their responsible supply chain journeys, they will find detailed guidance to help them identify practical steps for improvement. 

For instance, the framework and its supporting tools assist companies in benchmarking their existing policies and in setting or strengthening supply chain goals to protect forests, other natural ecosystems and human rights. 

This guidance is fully aligned with key target setting frameworks and regulations on climate, nature and human rights. For instance, SBTi’s Forest, Land and Agriculture Guidance requires companies to set a no-deforestation target that aligns with the framework. Due to this alignment, following the framework can help ensure that a company’s approach to addressing deforestation also helps fulfils other goals and requirements.  

To translate supply chain goals into sustainability outcomes, companies should establish management systems to drive effective implementation of commitments. This requires embedding goals into all production, procurement, and other business decisions, as well as establishing internal processes, capacity, and oversight. 

The framework provides differentiated guidance for commodity producers and buyers. For downstream companies, it details the practices and systems needed to effectively manage their supply chains. These include conducting traceability, supplier engagement and management of non-compliance. For upstream producers and primary processors, the framework details expectations and good practices for land acquisi