Supply chains at risk as wild pollinators decline

Around three quarters of food crops depend on pollination, making pollinators worth up to US$577 billion annually, of which half comes from wild pollinators. However, pollinator populations are declining rapidly, with more than a third of wild bee and butterfly species facing local extinction.

The pollination deficit: Towards supply chain resilience in the face of pollinator, authored by UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and the University of East Anglia (UEA), also found businesses lacked information about the potential risks to their supply chains.

In a survey of eight blue chip companies including Asda, The Body Shop, Mars and Pepsico, many reported they were unable to take action because of uncertainty around which crops and sourcing regions were vulnerable to pollinator decline.

Read the report.

See the blog.