Cattle production is the number one driver of landclearing in Australia, yet the biggest buyers of beef - supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths - have not set targets to get deforestation out of their supply chains - even though their rival Aldi has.
That's one of the findings from the Australian Conservation Foundation's first-of-its-kind Future of Food benchmark analysis, which reveals most major food businesses could not provide evidence to trace the ingredients of their products back to farm level.
Most companies have not set targets to reduce pollution, water use or damage to habitats.
ACF's analysis marks 20 of Australia's largest and most influential food companies on 37 sustainability indicators across four areas - risk assessment and disclosure, nature targets, strategy and action, and governance - and examines each company's commitment to transparent reporting on these criteria.
None got a pass mark above 50%.
"No one wants to contribute to the extinction of unique Australian wildlife or the collapse of ecosystems when they fill up their trolley at Coles or Woolies," said ACF's Bonnie Graham.
"Aldi is the only supermarket with a credible target to eliminate deforestation from its supply chain, but more than half of all the fresh beef Australians buy comes from Coles and Woolworths.
"Australian companies have been slower to act than their international counterparts, which have faced more pressure from shareholders, regulators and consumers, but that's no excuse for Coles and Woolies to drag their feet.
"The beef sector continues to clear woodland habitats of threatened species for paddocks, while agriculture uses more than 70% of the freshwater consumed in Australia and applies around 5 million tonnes of chemical fertilisers every year.
"Our food systems rely on the health of the natural world.
"Food companies are highly exposed to nature-related risk, yet few acknowledge the risk or take steps to reduce it. Not acting will have consequences for farmers, shareholders, nature and ultimately our food security," she said.
"There are hopeful signs of emerging leadership and seeds of change in the food sector, especially from sustainable and innovative farmers, but this analysis shows most companies are at the start of a journey to understand and respond to their inherent reliance on nature."
The benchmark's criteria were developed with reference to leading global frameworks, namely: the Taskforce for Nature Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), the Science Based Targets for Nature (SBTN), the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), the International Union for the Conservation for Nature (IUCN) and the World Benchmarking Alliance's Nature Benchmark and Food and Agriculture Benchmark.
