The U.S. Government and the companies of the Consumer Goods Forum are working together to reduce deforestation by promoting sustainable supply chains. 

This public-private partnership specifically focuses on supporting the Consumer Goods Forum’s goal of “ zero net deforestation by 2020” (that is, to maintain net quantity, quality and carbon density of forests) affected by their commodity supply chains by:

• Improving commodity yields and production efficiencies while conserving forests and ecosystems in critical partner countries. 
• Monitoring deforestation and forest health to measure progress. 
• Creating market signals through procurement and investment and lending programs as incentives for sustainable production, and the promotion of sustainable food production and conservation of forests.  
• Improving governance and enforcement in partner countries as related, for example, to land use planning and forest conservation. 

The U.S. Government will work with the Consumer Goods Forum and others to bring together key leaders and stakeholders to discover opportunities for enhanced collaboration, and build new and innovative partnerships to reduce deforestation in supply chains. The U.S. Government will also conduct private sector outreach for this partnership and leverage existing initiatives such as Accelerating Market-Driven Partnerships (AMP) to follow through on new opportunities for collaboration identified through the Partnership Dialogue. 

Additionally, the U.S. Government and the Consumer Goods Forum will host a meeting in the fall of 2012 with developing and developed country governments, additional private sector partners, and civil society leadership to identify joint policy recommendations to reduce deforestation in supply chains. Interested governmental, private sector and NGO partners can join the partnership to help identify existing resources that could improve the efficiency of collective efforts.  

Please contact Mary Melnyk (MMelnyk@usaid.gov) or Lexine Hansen (lhansen@usaid.gov) at USAID, which is leading the effort on behalf of the U.S. Government, to learn more.