Planetary boundaries measure the stability and resilience of Earth: our land, oceans, living species, climate, and atmosphere — within which humanity can continue to develop and thrive. But since their observation started in 2009, six out of nine planetary boundaries have been crossed, including ‘climate change’, ‘land system change’ and ‘biosphere integrity’. These directly correspond to the state of our forests.
Since 2000, we’ve lost 488 million hectares of tree cover, an area as large as the European Union. The loss rate has more than doubled between 2001 and 2023. It's a global problem, consistently linked to human activity and climate change.
Forests cover a third of all land on Earth, hosting 80% of terrestrial biodiversity. Harming forests inevitably harms the health of the planet. The WWF monitored the abundance of 1428 populations of 323 forest-reliant species, finding a decline of 79% between 1970 and 2018. This includes many of our ‘charismatic megafauna’ — iconic species like elephants and tigers.
And over a billion people, one eighth of humanity, need forests for shelter, livelihood, water, fuel, and food. Forests enable communities by providing soil for crops, raw materials for housing and heating, purifying and recharging groundwater, and acting as flood barriers.
More generally, our relationship with nature, be it our gardens, our city parks, or the forests we escape to, is fundamental to our well-being. Throughout human history, the natural world has consistently inspired literature, art, and spirituality. If we lose forests and wildlife, we lose these things too.
There’s also a colossal economy around forests. From agrobusiness and manufacturing to the medical industry, forests generate US $250 billion in economic activity each year. The value of forests also comes from their climate regulatory function; their environmental benefits, such as air purification and water filtration; their commercial output; and their social value – worth an estimated US $150 trillion in total.
of land covered by forests
people rely on forests for shelter,
livelihoods, water, fuel, food
estimated value of forests
This staggering ‘valuation’ is mostly because forests can store carbon on a massive scale, which makes them a powerful tool for combatting climate change. Scientific consensus on how to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, including reference organizations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Science Based Targets initiative, is clear that we need to remove atmospheric carbon dioxide at a gigaton scale. That's where forests come into play, as carbon sinks.
A study from Nature shows that natural carbon sequestration, like photosynthesis, is 30% more efficient than previously thought. This makes a loud case to promote forest conservation and natural-based solutions as part of any sustainability strategy.
Since the introduction of the Aichi biodiversity targets in 2010, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity has supported many initiatives to raise awareness. They reported an increase in biodiversity awareness worldwide, as people and politics realize our shared, fundamental dependence on nature.
As individuals, policymakers, or companies, we all have responsibilities at different levels. Large corporations have a large impact on the planet due to their operations, which they need to take responsibility for. That’s why at Schneider, biodiversity is a cornerstone of our climate action efforts.
We’ve assessed our impact on biodiversity since 2020, committing to a zero net loss in biodiversity within our direct operations by 2030, and deforestation-free wood by the same year. These actions come under our Sustainability Impact program, which compels us to consider our entire supply chain and beyond.
We have committed to phase out single-use plastic and to use recycled carboard in our packaging by the end of 2025 – and we’re already 78% there by the end of 2024. Also, we’re working to sustainably source materials like rubber and wood-based products, ensuring that they don’t contribute to deforestation.
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Biodiversity footprint assessment since 2020
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Position on forest protection and restoration in 2024
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Recycled cardboard and no single-use plastic in packaging by 2025
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Net zero biodiversity loss in direct operations & deforestation-free world sourcing by 2030
In addition, we’re embracing new, stronger policy advances. Here in Europe, the European Union Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR) is coming into force, helping reduce illegal deforestation and biodiversity loss.
We strongly support this evolution and encourage businesses to better trace and monitor their supply chain to preserve resources, as written in our position paper here.
Going beyond our value chain, we’re working on initiatives like carbon removal procurement, biodiversity and corporate citizenship programs, partnering with employees, customers, and partners like NGOs. As of 2024, 85% of our sites have already deployed local biodiversity conservation and restoration programs, with a target of 100% by 2025.
We support nature-based, third-party carbon sequestration projects that bring social benefits. Since 2011, we’ve invested in Livelihood Carbon Funds, an organization that supports rural communities to restore the natural ecosystem in Senegal, Indonesia, and France. These funds sustain ecosystem restoration, agroforestry, and rural energy projects — injecting social, environmental, and economic value into local communities.
Since 2022, we’ve partnered with the RISE foundation. Read their white paper explaining how Nepal increased its forest cover from 26% in 1970 to 46% by 2016. This isn’t an isolated story. Tree plantations, combined with natural regeneration and restoration efforts, resulted in the world gaining 130.9 million hectares of tree cover between 2000 and 2020 – an area as large as Peru.
