IEHN Working Group for Pesticide Reduction and Biodiversity’s Engagement and Disclosure Goals

• Assessment and disclosure of a company’s material impacts, both positive and negative, and dependencies on biodiversity and ecosystems and their interaction with the company’s strategy and business model. The assessment of a company’s material impacts should go beyond direct operations and account for impacts and dependencies throughout the value chain [1].
• Clear commitment to develop a dedicated strategy to address the company’s impacts and dependencies on biodiversity and ecosystems, such as via the adoption of a pollinator protection policy [2].
• Adoption of timebound and measurable targets related to a company’s dependence and impact on biodiversity and ecosystems. These targets should contribute to achieving the 2030 Global Biodiversity Framework Target 7 (“reduce the overall risk from pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals by at least half”) and the 2035 Global Framework on Chemicals Target A7 (“phase out highly hazardous pesticides in agriculture…”) [3].
  • Adoption of interim targets that guide the company toward the sound management of chemicals and waste and reduce the use of pesticides throughout the value chain and avoid Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) [4][5].
  • Determine how the targets are informed by, and/or aligned with the Global Biodiversity Framework, EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the UN Global Framework on Chemicals, TNFD and or other globally relevant national policies and legislation.
• Use of impact metrics related to biodiversity and ecosystems change, including disclosure metrics based on material impact driver(s) in the company’s operations and value chain [5].
  • Tracking, measurement, and disclosure of pesticide use, other synthetic inputs, including ecotoxic chemicals and other agricultural practices that contribute to negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems.
  • Use of impact metrics that demonstrate a company’s contribution to protecting and restoring biodiversity and ecosystems [6].
• Disclosure of resources (e.g., financial, staff, governance, etc.) dedicated to addressing the impacts and dependencies on biodiversity and ecosystems.
  • Consistent investment in and achievement of innovations towards advancing sustainable solutions and safer alternatives, including in agriculture, and embed the sound management of all chemicals into finance approaches and business models [7].
• Disclosure of internal governance structure and processes to ensure implementation of commitments and compliance with regulations and frameworks [8].
• Use of impact metrics that demonstrate a company’s contribution to protecting and restoring biodiversity and ecosystems.
  • Company discloses the percentage of volume that meet externally recognized and verified certification programs with meaningful criteria on Integrated Pest Management practices and/or pesticide/chemical reduction (e.g., Bee Better Certified; Bee Friendly Farming; Equitable Food Initiative; Fair Trade International- Hired Labor; Fair Trade USA - Year 6 & Beyond; Florverde Sustainable Flowers; Global G.A.P. Integrated Farm Assurance; LEAF MARQUE; MPS ABC; MPS GAP; PrimusGFS [w/Module 9 - IPM Practices]; Rainforest Alliance; Sustainable Food Group Sustainability Standard; Sustainably Grown [SCS Global Services]; and USDA certified organic [9]. An additional certification program is the SAI Platform’s Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) 3.0 (Gold Level Equivalence) [10].
  • Disclose revenue and the percentage of sales derived from organic foods and beverages.