In response to the groundswell of pledges from multinational corporations, the Forests Dialogue launched its first of a series of field dialogues on understanding “deforestation-free” commitments on April 29 in Riau Province, Sumatra, Indonesia. The event, co-convened by the Indonesian Business Council for Sustainable Development (IBCSD), brought Indonesian communities, indigenous tribes, NGOs, companies and government representatives together with international organizations to discuss the many challenges and solutions to implementation.

Leading companies such as Veolia, DSM and SAB Miller are beginning to shift from the traditional linear “take, make, dispose” business model to a more regenerative circular economy framework. This transformation employs a systems level approach and intentional strategy to design waste out of the system and to manage materials for longer circulation and greater re-usability as pictured.

The goal is to generate more value and economic opportunity with less material and energy consumption.

Value from the circular economy is generated using four principles: the Power of the Inner Circle; the Power of Circling Longer; the Power of Cascaded Use; and the Power of Pure Material.

Leading companies like USGBC members Veolia, Philips and Cisco are shifting from the traditional linear “take, make, dispose” business model to a more regenerative circular economy framework. This transformation employs a systems level approach and intentional strategy to design waste out of the system and to manage materials for longer circulation and greater re-usability. The goal is to generate more value and economic opportunity with less material and energy consumption.

Value from the circular economy is generated using four principles:

• The power of the inner circle: staying in the inner loops to save in terms of embedded resources and impacts.
• The power of circling longer: keeping materials in play through multiple cycling or by lengthening cycling duration to save on virgin material inputs.
• The power of cascaded use: transforming materials across product categories to offset the need for virgin material inputs.
• The power of pure materials: designing better products to facilitate reverse logistics and maintain material quality.

The NY Declarations on Forests (PDF) and the recent flurry of corporate deforestation-free commitments could reverse alarming trends in large-scale forest conversion driven by agricultural commodities. In the words of WRI’s Global Director of Forests, Nigel Sizer, “There are extraordinarily powerful players paying attention to this issue now; let’s be sure to build on the momentum.” But while the commitments send a strong signal to the marketplace and to governments that we need dramatic changes in how commodities are produced, the devil — as always — is in the details.

Does “deforestation-free” mean the same thing to a small-holder farmer in Indonesia as to the head of procurement in a U.S.-based multinational corporation or to the government of a forest-rich developing country? How might policies set by international organizations engage local stakeholders in customized solutions? What are the key performance indicators, and how will these be verified?

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