The sustainability, health and business impact of different protein types is one of the most hotly debated topics on the corporate sustainability agenda for food and agribusiness companies in 2020. Recent years have seen the publication of a range of analyses, either focusing on certain aspects of protein nutrition and sustainability or broad assessments of the food system.

However, to date, such frameworks have not been tailored for business. As such, WBCSD members determined that a framework for a holistic, protein-specific assessment of impacts covering environmental, societal, health and business issues would be useful to aid their decision-making and product development.

• WBCSD’s objective with this Framework is to support businesses to make balanced assessments of the sustainability and health impacts of different animal and plant protein products and production methods.
• This is a preliminary version of the Framework, which can be adapted over time and in response to use and feedback by companies and industry associations.
• Companies can use this framework to conduct hotspot, detailed or even sector-wide assessments of the sustainability of different protein products and production methods.
• We invite companies to adopt and test this framework and join our group of dedicated protein companies to advance our mission.