A high level meeting on cocoa and forestry was held, on Thursday 16 March 2017, in London, under the leadership of HRH The Prince of Wales. It aimed to examined ways of putting an end to deforestation and forest degradation in the world cocoa supply chain, by initially focusing on Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, the two most important cocoa producers.
This event was jointly organised by the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF), the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) and the International Sustainability Unit (ISU) which was established by HRH The Prince of Wales.
Côte d’Ivoire took part in this meeting through a delegation led by HE Mr Georges Aboua, ambassador of Côte d’Ivoire to the United Kingdom, who was accompanied by Mr. Aly Touré, Permanent Representative to International Commodity Organisations.
During his intervention, the head of the Ivorian delegation indicated that forest preservation is a priority for our country. It is reflected through various commitments, the most important of which are as follow :
- signing, in 2012, of a decree for the establishment, organisation and functionning of a national committee for the reduction of green house gas emissions which are caused by deforestation and forest degradation;
- signing, in 2014, of the New York Declaration on Forests which aims to eradicate deforestation brought about by agricultural activities;
- commitment made by H.E. Mr Alassane Ouattara, at the occasion of the September 2014 United Nations Conference, to undertake a transition towards a « zero deforestation cocoa production » from 2017;
- adoption, in 2015, of a new forest code which aims to restore 20% of forest cover in Côte d’Ivoire ;
- formulation, in 2015, of a strategy known as « cocoa friendly cocoa »
The Republic of Ghana represented by H.E. John Peter Amewu, Secretary of State for Territorial Affairs and Natural Resources also welcomed this initiative aimed at reducing the level of deforestation linked to the production of cocoa.
Agence Française de Développement, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank and the United Nations Program for Environment (UNEP) were amongst the organisations that took part in this meeting on cocoa and forests.
At the end of this meeting, a Collective Statement of Intent was signed by twelve of the world’s leading cocoa and chocolate companies, namely Barry Callebaut, Blommer Chocolate Company, Cargill, Cemoi, Ecom, Ferrero, Hershey, Mars, Mondelez, Nestlé, Olam and Touton.
These corporations agreed to work together and in partnership with the afore- mentioned Governments, the private sector, the civil society and all interested parties to develop a common vision and joint framework which will be announced at the 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) to the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Novembre 2017.