The Conservation and Markets Initiative aims to delink the production of high-risk commodities like soy, beef, and seafood from habitat conversion and overfishing. In 2024, an expert panel chaired by John Erhmann and Walt Reid provided an independent assessment of the approach, deployment, and results of the most recent phase of the initiative.
The panel was drawn from sectors the Conservation and Markets Initiative is trying to influence. The expert panel was able to review the data available and contribute perspective of the impact on conservation and the business community. The evaluation found that the initiative’s theory of change is strong and that our work has had tangible impact on practices within targeted sectors.
Highlights of the evaluation include:
- Significant progress was made toward the initiative’s stated objectives, with 51% of the soy market and 28% of the beef market in the Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado regions delinked from habitat conversion.
- For seafood, 60% of shrimp exports from target regions and 41% of the global tuna catch meet the criteria for being delinked from habitat conversion and overfishing.
- Financial institutions providing 36% of financing to target companies have implemented no-conversion, no-overfishing commitments.
The panel also found the initiative contributed to positive conservation outcomes by influencing market-driven incentives. They found solid evidence that these incentives have led to meaningful improvements in conservation outcomes in the target geographies. The initiative's focus on companies and financial institutions has helped improve conservation outcomes and increased awareness of the negative role of commodity supply chains on nature globally.
Overall, the panel concluded that the initiative was effective in changing policies and practices of financial institutions, contributing to improved environmental performance of companies in the seafood and agriculture commodity sectors. It also has been effective in encouraging companies and financial institutions to support public policies associated with ending deforestation and overfishing and in supporting international trade policies to achieve these environmental outcomes.
To learn more about the panel’s findings, read the executive summary of their report.
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