BEEF INDUSTRY MISSES THE MARK WITH DEFORESTATION POLICY

The World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia has serious concerns about Cattle Australia’s (CA) Land Management Commitment policy released today.

The peak body for grass-fed cattle producers developed their policy in response to growing global demands for deforestation-free beef.

It outlines a proposed approach to understanding and applying definitions related to deforestation in Australia’s beef industry.

However, the policy has missed the mark, according to WWF-Australia.

“CA has landed on a position that is misleading, and that won’t help their members secure deforestation-free market access,” said Vanessa Keogh, WWF-Australia’s Sustainable Beef Program Manager.

“Interpreting the definitions relating to deforestation is challenging. CA had an opportunity to reach a reasonable consensus among producers, industry, and NGOs.

“Instead, they have delivered a position that does not meet market access requirements for domestic and export markets and, in doing so, have done their members a huge disservice.

“There is a growing market for deforestation-free products.

“Over 6000 companies globally have signed up for the Science Based Targets initiative, which requires companies to remove products linked to deforestation from their sales. This includes beef retailers in Australia.”

The Science Based Targets initiative uses definitions set out in the Accountability Framework initiative (AFi).

Ms Keogh said WWF-Australia had sought clarification from AFi on deforestation requirements for Australia.

“The guidance from AFi states that forest areas cannot be excluded based on agricultural use, yet CA claims that they can,” she said.

“There is now a risk that Australian beef producers will undertake actions based on the CA policy and find themselves excluded from the growing market for deforestation-free beef.

“Banks are also increasingly required to report on how their operations are linked to deforestation, with flow-on effects to lending.

“WWF-Australia will continue to work to ensure a fair and robust outcome for beef producers wanting to access deforestation-free markets and to meet the deforestation-free requirements of their supply chains and the finance sector.”

The Science Based Targets initiative is a partnership between CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), World Resources Institute (WRI) and WWF.