2024 Partnership Meeting Aligning for global action

This plenary session will have three C-suite level leaders from WCF Member companies to discuss how sustainability is discussed in the Boardroom and with Stakeholders. How has this evolved overtime and what needs to be addressed, especially with regard to new legislation and extra investments needed to meet customer and consumer expectations?

What are the strategies in producing countries for the development of their cocoa sector, what are the ambitions and which policy measures are being considered? What is the position of these countries to import policies in the EU, such as the EUDR, and the US and what is the impact on their strategy? This panel will allow producing countries to present their views.

How can policy making, actual programming, and advocacy, work together to achieve impact at scale? Although the fight against child labor in cocoa farming has been the focus of sustained attention and action by stakeholders for the past twenty years, it has not yet had the desired lasting impact. At this stage of the fight, we can see policies and regulations, the programs implemented, and communication on the subject have played a critical role in creating a conducive environment for more effective control. It is therefore legitimate to ask how these three levers can better combine their action for a greater and more lasting impact.

Global Strategies for Restoration & Conservation
While smaller initiatives within supply chains have been effective, there is a growing need for collaboration among governments, businesses, communities and philanthropies to work together in large-scale restoration and conservation initiatives, as seen with the Cocoa & Forests Initiative. In this session, we will consider the potential challenges and opportunities involved in pursuing these initiatives and determine the best pathways to get there.

The Benefits of Carbon Sequestration and off setting in Cocoa Supply Chain
Cocoa and cocoa products, such as chocolate, have impact on the volume of carbon in the atmosphere: in general carbon insetting takes place during cocoa production, carbon emissions are a result of downstream processes. How can net carbon emissions be measured and what must be done to have farmers benefit from the carbon sequestration of their trees and their land.

Just Transition Pathways for Cocoa Communities in the Race to Net-Zero
The EUDR marks a significant step towards addressing emissions by moving the world towards a deforestation-free market, but concerns for farmers’ well-being highlight the complexities of this transition. We must ensure the transition addresses the well-being of both people and the planet. This session will explore innovative tools and approaches to foster resilient farmer communities and go beyond global emission targets.

Along with the WCF PM, 2024 will bring two other major cocoa conferences, the Amsterdam Sustainable Cocoa Conference at Chocoa and the World Cocoa Conference by ICCO. These events are the perfect occasions to stage panel discussions that contribute to progress on one of the major topics in the cocoa sector, farmer income. This session will be the first of a three-part discussion series, spread across the three events, with the WCF PM focusing on the development and implementation of market-based policies to improve the income of farmers.

Along with the WCF PM, 2024 will bring two other major cocoa conferences, the Amsterdam Sustainable Cocoa Conference at Chocoa and the World Cocoa Conference by ICCO. These events are the perfect occasions to stage panel discussions that contribute to progress on one of the major topics in the cocoa sector, farmer income. This session will be the first of a three-part discussion series, spread across the three events, with the WCF PM focusing on the development and implementation of market-based policies to improve the income of farmers.

Sector transformation can only be accomplished together. To move forward and review what has been discussed over the course of the conference, the World Cocoa Foundation has invited the chairpersons of the regional cocoa and chocolate associations to discuss their impressions of the WCFPM and to elaborate on the impact of their associations policy moving forward.