Nature has rapidly risen in the global sustainability agenda and is soon, if not already now, sharing the top place with climate. This new focus is driving businesses to recognize their deep economic dependence on natural resources, with over half of the global GDP--around $44 trillion--moderately or highly reliant on nature.

At Huhtamaki, we are currently working on increasing our understanding on the most relevant areas for us when it comes to nature, aiming to steer our actions where they matter most.

The starting point

Taking nature into consideration has been part of Huhtamaki's sustainability work already for a long time. As we use fiber in many of our products, the well-being of forests is vital to our business. Our nature journey has begun with a focus on forests and water but as we build up our science-based nature work, we are stepping into a more detailed process that considers a broader set of drivers of nature change, such as land use change, use of water resources and pollution. In recent years, we've made good progress in this area. For example, we have conducted annual assessments of water-related risks to identify our sites operating in water-stressed areas and mapped our sites located within or close to key biodiversity areas.

To ensure that we continue to apply best practices, we participated in the UN Global Compact Finland Science-Based Targets for Nature training program in 2023 and started a peer-learning group focused on developing corporate nature work in 2024. These initiatives have helped us to understand where to focus in developing our approach to nature.

Using TNFD's LEAP framework as our guide

The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) is a market-led, science-based and government-backed initiative providing organizations with the tools to act on nature-related issues. The TNFD has also developed the LEAP (Locate, Evaluate, Assess, Prepare) assessment to give practical guidance for evaluating their dependencies and impacts on nature and the financial risks and opportunities these can lead to. We have started our own LEAP analysis this year. Our first step was to map out our value chains and the industries connected to our operations and identify key impacts and dependencies related to nature in both our operations and upstream activities.

Currently, the LEAP analysis covers all operational locations and upstream activities, with plans to include downstream stages in the future. This analysis currently includes 56% of all procured goods, and we expect this coverage to expand as the methodology develops. The selection criteria for procured goods are based on the High Impact Commodity List (HICL) provided by the Science Based Target Network and purchase volumes.

We are now in the process of mapping the impacts and dependencies we have on nature on a high level for the whole Huhtamaki. We will refine the process and prioritize the sites based on their dependency on nature and the impacts our operations might have on nature. On the upstream, we are mapping which commodities we should start with when it comes to engagement with the value chain and possibly setting targets to measure our progress.

Next steps

We will continue to work with the TNFD's LEAP guidance and expect to share some more results soon. We recognize that our journey is ongoing, and actions are required to keep up with the rapidly evolving nature frameworks. To stay ahead, we will refine our processes and deepen our understanding of our impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities.

We are proud of the steps we have already taken to advance our nature work and remain committed to continuous progress. Join us on our journey!