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World Environment Day 2024: A Call for Global Action on Land Restoration

by Michelle Armstrong, TYS Global VP of Value Engineering and George Coe, Prism Cofounder & Partner

World Environment Day (WED), observed on June 5th every year, is the United Nations’ principal platform for encouraging global awareness and action for environmental protection. This year, the event is hosted by Saudi Arabia, focusing on the crucial themes of land restoration, desertification, and drought resilience.

The 2024 theme underscores the urgency of addressing land degradation, a pressing issue impacting nearly half of the world’s population and threatening global GDP. Land restoration is vital not only for ecological balance but also for the socio-economic well-being of billions of people. The initiative aims to restore one billion hectares of degraded land, which could significantly bolster carbon storage, enhance biodiversity, and improve livelihoods and food security worldwide​ (UNEP – UN Environment Programme)​​ (UNEP – UN Environment Programme).

Geopolitical Context
WED 2024 and its chosen focus are of particular significance as climate issues become a growing component of geopolitical risks to supply chains.

TYS partner, PRISM, a geopolitical risk analysis firm focusing on supply chains, said this was an important event to highlight environmental issues beyond the narrower focus on the energy transition that dominates many supply chain discussions. Extreme weather events continue to cause widespread disruptions in key supply chain locations around the world and issues like droughts and desertification are set to rise even further. Such issues cause disruptions in and of themselves, but can also contribute indirectly to driving geopolitical conflict.

However, PRISM notes that the WED will also act as a forum to collaborate on the policy response in the face of growing regulatory fragmentation that risks causing higher costs and greater disruption risk for supply chains.

For example, EU climate rules impacting supply chains like the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and the Deforestation Law are already forcing faster climate policy change in countries looking to export to Europe. The differing pace of progress around the world risks forcing supply chain leaders to adjust their footprints or face higher costs.

Global Campaigns and Local Actions
In conjunction with WED, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Saudi Arabia have launched several campaigns to promote land restoration. These efforts are part of a broader strategy to mitigate the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Elizabeth Mrema, Deputy Executive Director of UNEP, emphasized the importance of replanting forests, rewetting marshes, and reviving soils to restore ecosystems and combat land degradation effectively​ (UNEP – UN Environment Programme).

Role of Trust Your Supplier (TYS) and Aggregated Data
Trust Your Supplier (TYS) can play a pivotal role in supporting these global environmental initiatives. By leveraging its platform for supplier information management, TYS can aggregate critical data from various third-party sources to ensure transparency and sustainability in supply chains. Here’s how TYS can contribute:

Data Aggregation and Analysis: TYS can compile data from suppliers worldwide, providing insights into sustainable practices and compliance with environmental standards. This data can be used to monitor progress toward land restoration goals and identify areas needing improvement.

Promoting Sustainable Practices: By verifying and promoting suppliers who adhere to sustainable practices, TYS can encourage more businesses to adopt environmentally friendly methods. This can lead to a significant reduction in practices that contribute to land degradation and deforestation.

Facilitating Global Cooperation: TYS’s platform can serve as a collaborative hub where businesses, governments, and NGOs share data and strategies for land restoration. This collaboration is essential for scaling up efforts to combat desertification and drought resilience globally.

Tracking and Reporting: TYS can provide robust tracking and reporting tools that help organizations measure the impact of their sustainability initiatives. Accurate reporting ensures accountability and helps maintain the momentum of environmental campaigns.

Global Commitments and Future Outlook
Countries worldwide have pledged to restore vast areas of degraded land. If these commitments are fulfilled, the environmental benefits could be enormous. For instance, restoring just 15% of converted lands could prevent up to 60% of expected species extinctions​ (Mirage News). The upcoming UN Convention to Combat Desertification’s Conference of the Parties (COP16) in Riyadh further aligns with this year’s WED theme, aiming to accelerate progress toward these restoration goals​ (UNEP – UN Environment Programme).

World Environment Day 2024 is a pivotal moment for global environmental action, particularly in the realm of land restoration. By uniting under this year’s theme, the international community can make significant strides in reversing land degradation, fostering biodiversity, and enhancing climate resilience. Saudi Arabia’s leadership in this global effort exemplifies the critical role nations must play in safeguarding our planet for future generations. Trust Your Supplier’s data-driven approach can significantly support these efforts, ensuring sustainable practices and facilitating global cooperation for a greener future.

Learn more about our TYS partner Prism.

For more information on World Environment Day and related initiatives, visit the official UNEP website and the World Environment Day campaign site. Join #GenerationRestoration – together, let’s restore & safeguard our land & soil.

#TYS #Prism #ESG #Sustainability #WorldEnvironmentDay

April Harrison Blog, ESG, Geopolitical Issues, Value Engineering 0 Comments , , , ,

Navigating Geopolitical Shifts

How the Swiss Climate Ruling Reshapes Supply Chains and Risk Management

by Michelle Armstrong, TYS Global VP of Value Engineering and George Coe, Prism Cofounder & Partner

On April 9, 2024, a Swiss Court determined that the Swiss government had a legal obligation to combat climate change, based on European Human Rights Law. The case will have significant implications for ESG and supply chains. 

This adds to a wave of climate litigation, against both countries and companies, but stands as a landmark ruling due to the use of human rights law broadly, and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) specifically, for which a precedent is now set for all 46 countries that are signatories. 

The implications go far beyond the direct ruling. TYS partner, PRISM, a geopolitical risk advisory firm, breaks down the issues for supply chain leaders to watch in three categories. 

Risk of rapid regulatory expansion: the ruling implies that governments have an obligation to take appropriate measures to meet their stated climate goals. Current policy in almost every country comes far short of stated climate goals, such as the Net Zero by 2050 targets set in most Western economies. Legal obligations to put in place policies that match stated goals would mean transformative new climate regulations that would require far larger changes to supply chains than current law. This could range compliance burdens like greater disclosures, but the ruling implies effort aimed more directly at cutting climate risk, making it more likely that direct supply chain costs would be imposed by policies that require renewables investments, more ambitious emissions reductions, reduction of high emissions imports, and other more fundamental changes. 

More countries: a range of other cases exist using human rights and other laws. Other countries, from France to Portugal to India and beyond must be watched for similar precedent-setting rulings that would expand the implications of this legal framework beyond Switzerland and the ECHR. 

Direct corporate lawsuits: the ruling accelerates the impact of climate litigation from activists, which has also been aimed directly at companies. It can be expected to boost efforts to sue companies directly for failures on climate change, creating financial risk to companies and their suppliers, if more lawsuits are successful. 

More broadly, the case could act as a catalyst for enhanced international cooperation. By framing climate action as a human rights imperative, it may lead to a concerted effort among nations to standardize environmental policies and regulatory frameworks, especially at a time when human rights and environmental goals are being pursued in tandem in supply chain regulations like the EU’s CSDDD. 

The case itself is a crucial moment in the use of litigation by climate activists, bringing together years of work at the intersection of environmental advocacy, human rights, legal strategy, and political dynamics. If a precedent has truly been set that expands to more countries, we can expect a rapid rise in transformative climate action, rather than just stated goals, in the coming years. 

Learn more about our TYS partner Prism.

Read more about the landmark Swiss case.

#TYS #Prism #ClimateLitigation #ESG #HumanRightsLaw #RegulatoryExpansion #CSDDD #Sustainability #GeopoliticalRisk 

April Harrison Blog, ESG, Geopolitical Issues, Risk & Compliance, Risk Management, Value Engineering 0 Comments , , , , ,