It's time for a Nordic Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa

The Nordic countries import cocoa ingredients equivalent to approximately 45.000 tonnes of cocoa beans yearly. The majority of cocoa is grown by smallholder farmers, making the crop a significant livelihood opportunity for rural communities, mainly in West Africa. However, risks for poverty, child labour, gender inequality and deforestation are linked to cocoa supply chains.

In response to these risks, multi-stakeholder initiatives for sustainable cocoa such as the German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa (GISCO), the Dutch Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa (DISCO), Beyond Chocolate (Belgium), and the Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa (SWISSCO) have been established. All these initiatives urge to improve income and working conditions of cocoa farmers, with attention to gender equality and elimination of child labour, and to conserve and protect natural resources, halt deforestation and promote reforestation.

The Ethical Trading Initiatives of Denmark, Norway and Sweden and the Fairtrade organisations of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden invite you to a webinar on the sustainability issues and possibilities within cocoa. You will meet and learn from one of the established European platforms and some of the leading corporations within the cocoa sector.

Program and speakers

09.00 - Welcome

Is it time for a Nordic Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa?

Camilla Erika Lerberg, CEO, Fairtrade Denmark and Henrik Lindholm, Executive Director, ETI Sweden

09.10 - Cocoa - the scale of the challenge

Jon Walker, Senior Advisor, Cocoa, Fairtrade UK

09.25 - GISCO : German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa

Learn more about the GISCO: What? Why? How?

Beate Weiskopf, Executive Secretary, GISCO

10.00 - Mondelez International

How can sustainable cocoa initiatives support the supply chain, due diligence and sustainability work of Mondelez?

Marcus Hartmann, Corporate & Government Affairs Lead, Nordics

10.15 - Wrap up and next steps

Moderator of the day: Simen Høy Dypvik, Senior Advisor, Ethical Trade Norway

Contact

If you have any questions, please contact Emilie Schultze on emilie.schultze@etisverige.se.