The collaboration between the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the Government of Ecuador, and Lavazza has been selected as a finalist for the World Economic Forum's Giving to Amplify Earth Action (GAEA) Awards under the Moving Business for Climate Impact category. The nomination is in recognition of its efforts to tackle forest loss resulting from agricultural expansion of coffee.
The partnership has pioneered the world's first nationally certified, deforestation-free coffee. It empowers over 400 smallholder farmers in Ecuador's Amazon region to protect forests while accessing global markets through a fully traceable supply chain. This approach combines sustainable land and forest management practices, national certification regulations, and digital tools such as QR codes for value-chain traceability and transparency.
In 2024, Lavazza launched a special edition under its ¡Tierra! brand, allowing consumers worldwide to trace their deforestation-free coffee back to the farm through QR codes. Since then, over 85 tons of deforestation-free coffee have reached global markets through exports by Ecuador's coffee cooperative FAPECAFES.
Financing from both the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) enabled UNDP to convene these diverse actors in the partnership, aligning public policy with farmers' action and private sector engagement, while supporting the digital traceability systems and commercial agreements needed to scale the model nationally and globally.
This partnership was operationalized under the banner of PROAmazonía, the Amazonian Integral Forest Conservation and Sustainable Production Programme. It's a national initiative led by the Ministry of Environment and Water and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Ecuador and supported by UNDP. So far it has restored 15,023 hectares of Amazonian land.
Anchored in Ecuador's national REDD+ strategy and aligned with the country's climate commitments, the model is now being adapted to cacao and livestock supply chains, and is under preparation for expansion in Costa Rica, Colombia, Ethiopia, Honduras, and Viet Nam.
In being named a finalist for the GAEA Awards, the consortium joins other global innovators demonstrating that climate and nature solutions can be scaled through partnerships that align public policy, private sector incentives, and grassroots leadership.
* UNDP does not endorse any entity, brand, product, or service.
About UNDP
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the United Nations global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience, and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP works in approximately 170 countries and territories to help nations achieve the SDGs.
About the GAEA Awards
The GAEA Awards, powered by the World Economic Forum, celebrate groundbreaking collaborations that advance climate and nature action. Each year, finalists are selected across several categories for their ability to demonstrate scalable, cross-sector partnerships. Winners embark on a year-long journey curated by GAEA to expand their impact, share lessons globally, and inspire further collaboration for people and planet.
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