CBD COP16, 21 October – 1 November 2024
Joining the global call to action on biodiversity
Biodiversity loss and climate change are two of the greatest challenges of our time. IKEA joins the UN Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to demonstrate support for the Global Biodiversity Framework and share how we are safeguarding and enhancing biodiversity throughout our value chain and beyond.
All eyes are on Cali in Colombia as governments, business leaders and communities from more than 190 countries converge for the sixteenth meeting of the United Nations Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16).
This will be the first Biodiversity COP since the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) in 2022 – a historic agreement committing 196 nations around the world to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. Only a fraction of countries have followed up with national plans since then, increasing the need for businesses and other stakeholders to show their support.
IKEA has actively supported and advocated for the GBF through ongoing engagement with global partners. Participating in COP16 demonstrates actions we are taking to support nature and biodiversity. We have also endorsed a statement by Business for Nature, a global coalition of businesses and organisations, calling for “Renewed policy ambition on nature” to demonstrate the continued and growing momentum from businesses to implement the GBF as swiftly as possible, ahead of COP16.
We are committed to addressing our impacts and dependencies on nature, and actively working towards setting science-based targets for biodiversity and water.
Our approach to biodiversity
With diverse supply chains, operations, and locations around the globe, IKEA both influences and depends on biodiversity in many ways. Our main impact on biodiversity comes from the raw materials and ingredients used in our products. We have an opportunity and responsibility to take action to both reduce our negative impacts and support ecosystem resilience, which in turn, can help mitigate the risks that biodiversity loss can have on our business. We are working to protect, improve and enhance ecosystems vital for nature, the IKEA business and the millions of people living in the communities where we have influence.
How to measure impacts, dependencies and opportunities for nature are still evolving and we are following global developments closely. Methodologies and frameworks such as those outlined by the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) will help us identify, report and set science-informed targets to ensure our actions support our goals.
CBD COP16 gives us an opportunity to demonstrate the actions IKEA is taking to safeguard biodiversity while connecting with, learning from and building collaborations with others.
SKOGSTA dining chairs are produced in Vietnam from locally sourced acacia wood
© WWF-Greater Mekong / FGS Production
“Our business depends on and impacts nature and biodiversity, both now and in the future. We know that nature loss affects people, the environment, and our operations. That's why we're committed to regenerating resources, protecting ecosystems, and enhancing biodiversity."
Supporting smallholders
For more than 22 years IKEA and WWF have been working together to protect landscapes, enhance biodiversity and empower local communities. For example, in the Greater Mekong region IKEA and WWF have been working together to support responsible forest management across almost 80 thousand hectares in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. Working with acacia plantation smallholders in Vietnam to promote responsible forest management has resulted in increased resilience against climate change and improved livelihoods for the smallholders and their communities while enhancing biodiversity.
© WWF-Greater Mekong / FGS Production
© WWF-Greater Mekong / FGS Production
Fast-tracking biodiversity assessments
At IKEA, we use wood more than any other material in the making of our products. Together with global partners – such as the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) and WWF – we are continuously working towards making responsible wood sourcing the industry norm, contributing to protecting and improving biodiversity.
At COP15, IKEA together with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), WWF and leading companies were part of the launch of an initiative to fast-track biodiversity assessments in FSC-certified forests of Brazil, Finland and Sweden. As data on biodiversity are lacking, the initiative represents an important step towards creating a solid global forest management certification scheme to allow monitoring biodiversity and demonstrating conservation outcomes. And this is good news for the entire forest management sector.
Recent findings from the initiative show that FSC certification is the most important reason for the monitoring of biodiversity in certified forests and can generate important knowledge for the conservation of rare, threatened and endangered species. For example, in Brazil more than 300 threatened species were identified within 30 FSC-certified forests, while in Sweden findings show that the presence of red-listed species has remained stable in FSC-certified forests over the past 20 years.
Restoring one of the world's largest rainforests
Launched in 1998, the Sow a Seed project in Sabah, Borneo, has resulted in the restoration of 18,500 hectares of degraded rainforest. After over 25 years of work, two million seedlings of more than 85 different native species have been planted and as of 2021 it was concluded that the rainforest is now regenerating on its own. Sow a Seed is one of the largest and longest-term tropical rainforest ecosystem restoration projects in the world and is conducted in partnership with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the Sabah Foundation, a Malaysian government organisation.
Photo credit: Susanna Bergström, SLU
Photo credit: Susanna Bergström, SLU
Increased traceability for rattan
Historically it was impossible for industries to accurately identify the different types of rattan used in supply chains. Overharvesting of rattan from forests in Vietnam and Indonesia can threaten biodiversity and ecosystems by contributing to the potential extinction of some rattan species. Research initiated by IKEA and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew proved that it is possible to get DNA out of rattan furniture and then identify the species, comparing the DNA data from furniture to a reference database developed from Kew’s scientifically verified specimens of rattan.
Building upon this research, IKEA carried out an increased number of rattan DNA tests from suppliers in Vietnam and Indonesia at a commercial laboratory in the US. Testing 63 samples, the laboratory successfully extracted rattan DNA using the testing protocol developed as a result of the research, marking the first instance where the entire rattan identification process has been carried out by a commercial test lab.
The results not only validate the effectiveness of this method but also enable other companies and commercial testing laboratories to test rattan samples. Results indicate that IKEA suppliers only used species which IKEA has allowed to be used to produce its products.
The new FRYKSÅS series, made from handwoven rattan
"The main cause of biodiversity loss comes from human use of land and oceans. While causes are more clear, the solutions are complex and need many stakeholders working together. That’s why CBD COP16 is so important. It’s a unique opportunity for us as a business to demonstrate our support for the Global Biodiversity Framework and to engage with others to strengthen our action plans to protect and restore biodiversity."
Promoting biodiversity in local communities
We are taking action across our value chain, for example, by engaging local communities near our stores or factories to magnify our efforts to improve biodiversity. For instance, IKEA Industry in Malacky, Slovakia, converted the lawns at the site into meadows and reached out to the local municipality to scale up the initiative. In 2024, lawns throughout the city were transformed into meadows, supporting wildlife such as pollinators and improving biodiversity.
We are also adding new green spaces just outside selected IKEA stores, which are being evaluated as part of a broader rollout in the future. Examples include ‘tiny forests’ in two IKEA stores in France, a pollinator garden in Romania and a large rooftop garden on the IKEA store in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Flowers bloom at the IKEA Industry site in Malacky, Slovakia
A rendering of the green rooftop of the IKEA Copenhagen city store
Collaboration is key
We don’t have all the answers, nor can we achieve our goals alone. That is why we will continue to engage with, learn from and take collective action together with communities, policy makers, stakeholders, NGOs and our customers.