The Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) Ocean Hub, led by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Conversation International, has launched a corporate pilot with four companies. Over the next few months, the new initiative will see Carrefour, Mars Petcare, Bolton Foods and Musholm piloting draft guidance for the first science-based targets covering seafood value chains. Outcomes will be shared at the end of the pilot. Pressures on the ocean’s health pose great risks to economies, societies and the environment, SBTN said. To halt and reverse the damage, companies with widespread environmental footprints across marine ecosystems and fisheries have a key role to play. “By directly engaging industries such as the seafood sector in setting science-based targets for nature, SBTN provides these companies with an opportunity to reduce their pressures from ocean-related activities and implement sustainable practices with far-reaching environmental benefits,” the statement read. Future work for the ocean hub will expand into other sectors exerting key pressures, such as habitat damage, pollution, endangered, threatened, protected and vulnerable species impacts.
