Building a green supply chain for a sustainable future with the Supply Chain Data Partnership

The SCDP will seek to provide a location dataset for global supply chains such as palm oil, soy, cotton, rubber, mills, factories and wood-based packaging applications to increase resilience to climate change. OS is already using location data and know-how to tackle sustainability challenges and build more resilient societies through trusted data to help protect and preserve the environment against climate change.

The aim is to be able to provide enough confidence to certify the location of the asset, such as farms, sites, and facilities, so that buyers and investors can see that the asset owner is willing to be transparent and be monitored. The data and certificates will then sit on a new international registry that meets global registry standards.

The SCDP will help tackle greenwashing by working to ensure efficient and trustworthy sustainability reporting, ensure public and private investors avoid high-risk investments and potential risks, while identifying plausible opportunities for green and sustainable investment.

Take for example, the food industry. From farm to fork, there are many complexities in the food production supply chain but there have been growing pressures on manufacturers and companies to transform the industry and stop deforestation, improve transparency and traceability, and support farmers – especially smallholders – to adopt more sustainable practices.

In the UK alone, mayonnaise is consumed by millions of people a year, with soy oil a crucial ingredient that is also used in dressings and condiments enjoyed by consumers all over the world. Soybean is also a major ingredient in livestock feed, especially for beef, chicken, egg and dairy production.

The cultivation of soybeans has grown tenfold in the last 50 years and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) predicts it will double by 2050. With this rapid expansion have come difficulties, which have negatively impacted on natural habitats and biodiversity.