More from Solutions Day, NGIS shares how government and corporate commitments progress climate solutions

Editor's note: At Google Cloud we’re working with global organizations to help them use technology to build a more sustainable future. During the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP27, representatives from countries and organizations around the world — including Google Cloud — gathered in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt from November 7 - 18, 2022 for the latest round of climate talks. Check here for perspectives from onsite, thoughts from Google experts and customers, curated content and announcements. Or catch the event for yourself on Youtube.

Leaders are currently gathering for COP27 in Egypt with the goal of delivering substantive outcomes that address climate change. Last week at COP, 13 global leading food and commodity businesses renewed their pledge to end deforestation and help reduce global warming. As corporations continue to extend  commitments to sustainability, legislation can help solidify these commitments and further progress.

In September, a significant bill was passed in the European Parliament to ban imports of raw materials that have been linked to deforestation, taking a huge step forward in reducing global deforestation. The legislation includes commodities such as cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soy, and wood. This initiative is part of the European Green Deal, which paves the way for Europe to achieve carbon neutrality and to transform the EU into a competitive and resource-efficient economy.

The new legislation will guarantee consumers that the products they buy do not contribute to the destruction of forests. Under the new law, any raw materials produced on land deforested after 31 December 2019 will be prohibited. EU consumption accounts for around 10% of global deforestation with palm oil and soy being the biggest contributors.

The bill is significant as consumer packaged goods companies will need to verify that the raw materials sourced from suppliers are deforestation free and not just from certified sources. This due diligence will be implemented through legislation and will need the use of satellite monitoring, field surveys and supplier engagement to have the first mile traceability that will be required by the EU. This step change will need the use of innovative and scalable digital solutions to deliver the first mile traceability.

NGIS and Google have been partnering with progressive global companies to deliver solutions that provide the capabilities that will in the future be legally required by the EU for deforestation free supply chains.

NGIS’s sustainability solution, TraceMark, is built on Google Cloud Geospatial technology and delivers access to enormous data archives and analysis at scale that will be needed to deliver supply chain due diligence.

Capabilities include:

• Supply chain mapping and first mile verification
• Global monitoring of deforestation, including early warning alerts indicators
• Supplier engagement and data sharing ecosystems

A geospatial, first mile approach to sustainability will be at the heart of this initiative as well as many other climate change innovations. The use of geospatial technology allows the integration of enormous data archives based on location, integration that wouldn’t be possible with other techniques. Google has been at the forefront of geospatial innovation with Google Earth and Google Maps democratizing digital mapping.

About NGIS

NGIS is a Google Premier partner, specializing in geospatial, climate and sustainability solutions and was named the 2021 Global Google Cloud Industry Solution Partner of the Year.

NGIS’s team of GIS Analysts and developers leverage world-leading satellite imagery with the processing power of Google Cloud, BigQuery and Google Earth Engine, and have developed a product that empowers corporations to become more accountable for the impact of their operations and identify how to better address sustainability commitments.

NGIS is now engaging with Twinning’s, Kerry, Barry Callebaut, Kimberly Clark, General Motors, Rainforest Trust, and other companies looking to reach their sustainability goals globally.

About TraceMark

TraceMark is a sustainable solution platform that delivers global deforestation monitoring along with implementing traceability and transparency for the sourcing of raw materials.