ROTTERDAM: Food commodity trader Louis Dreyfus (LDC) has committed to eliminate deforestation and the conversion of conservation value vegetation for agriculture from all its supply chains by the end of 2025.

Founded in 1851 the French company sources, processes and transports 80 million tons of grains, oilseeds, coffee, cotton, juice, rice, and sugar annually across 100 countries.

“Ensuring sustainable agriculture and food production are among the world’s most pressing global challenges, and our commitment to zero deforestation and conversion of native vegetation is essential in addressing [them],” noted CEO Michael Gelchie.

LDC will now begin risk assessments of its supply chains and sourcing regions of coffee, palm and soy that have high levels of deforestation.

“Eliminating deforestation and native vegetation conversation associated with agriculture is among the most significant contributions we can make to the world’s 1.5°C Paris Agreement target to limit global warming,” added Gelchie.

A new report on Britain’s retail environment by Barclays says the pressure to act ethically and sustainably is having a sizeable commercial impact on the industry’s supply chain, with more than £7.1 billion of supplier contracts cancelled in the past 12 months as retailers seek to improve their credentials.

According to Karen Johnson, national head of Retail and Wholesale at Barclays Corporate Banking, ethical excellence in the way retailers conduct business is rapidly becoming a non-negotiable requirement.

“A significant indicator of this shift is the step-change we are seeing in supply chain management philosophy. Businesses are increasingly aware that they are being held accountable by shareholders, employees, investors and regulators as well as their customers – and our survey reflects the efforts being made to achieve end-to-end transparency across the supply chain.

“No one in the supply chain, it seems, is sustainable and ethical until everyone is,” she added.