Annual Report 2025
Dear colleagues,
In a world of uncertainty, companies that thrive are those that understand that resilience begins at the roots. For businesses working with botanicals, this truth is especially clear. Our sector relies on the farms and wild collection sites, local communities, and broader landscapes that nurture the natural ingredients we depend on. When botanical supply disruptions occur —such as from the negative effects of climate change, or its knock-on effects such as labour shortages due to migration from rural to urban areas, companies that have invested in ethical sourcing are best able to anticipate change, secure supply, and avoid certain costs of inaction.
Yet, in the past year, we have also seen sustainability activities including ethical sourcing pushed toward the margins in some settings, treated as something to revisit ‘when things calm down.’ At UEBT, we know that this moment is precisely when sustainability must remain at the center.
Because the value is not theoretical: biodiversityfriendly practices are proven to strengthen the resilience of botanical supply chains and their landscapes; robust human rights due diligence systems can support supplier relationships; and responsible sourcing systems provide the clarity and confidence needed in evolving regulatory environments. Ethical sourcing is not only the right thing to do—it is the strategic foundation for the future of botanicals and companies that incorporate them into their products for their natural origin, bioactive properties and/or consumer appeal.
Throughout 2025, this vision guided UEBT’s work. In the first year of our 2030 strategy, we helped our members translate evolving EU regulations into practical, botanicalsoriented steps through new policy briefs. We also launched UEBT’s new human rights due diligence toolkit for local processors in highrisk sourcing contexts. Sector collaboration flourished this year within the UEBT platform. The Bulgaria Rose Working Group, established under the IFRA–UEBT Responsible Sourcing Initiative, brought together actors from across the rose value chain to jointly tackle social and environmental challenges. Early progress shows the transformative potential of collective action in safeguarding iconic botanical ingredients.
Innovation remained a defining theme for UEBT. Through the support of an ISEAL Innovation Grant we explored digital and remotesensing approaches that reduce specific burdens on producers that occur during traditional audits, and channel resources toward real impact in botanical landscapes. At the same time, we expanded our Responsible Sourcing Risk Database, now offering companies deeper insight into environmental and social risks across 260 ingredient profiles.
And our flagship publication, Resilience Rooted in Nature, brought new evidence to light: biodiversity actions strengthen climate resilience, stabilise yields, and protect botanical supply chains from future climate shocks. A first report of its kind, it affirmed what our community has understood for some time —that when we restore nature, nature restores our resilience in return.
As UEBT moves forward, our purpose remains unwavering: to bring companies together on sourcing with respect for people and biodiversity, and to support companies in building botanical supply chains that are resilient, regenerative, and ready for the future. Thank you for partnering with us in this work.
A look into the UEBT strategy to 2030
At the start of 2025 we introduced our new strategy. Some highlights include:
We sharpened UEBT’s focus on botanicals and their sourcing areas
We re-stated our core that is ‘sourcing with respect’ and shared what this means in practice:
- botanicals impact people and biodiversity in sourcing areas
- UEBT works with companies to drive positive impacts in different production systems: wild collection, agroforestry as well as agriculture
- UEBT collaborates with companies in priority sectors: beauty and personal care, herbs and spices, botanical beverages, natural flavours, natural pharma.
The strategy shared specific priorities from 2025 to 2027 under an umbrella of Strategic Directions for 2030. Those five-year strategic directions are:
UEBT’s 2030 strategy supports our vision of a world in which all people and biodiversity thrive, and our mission to regenerate nature and secure a better future for people through ethical sourcing of ingredients from biodiversity.
We advance this vision and mission through our Theory of Change (pictured below) that also advances the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the UN Global Biodiversity Framework.
Impact Overview 2025
2025 was the first year of our new strategy to 2030. See results below on key targets compared to one year ago.
Highlights of New Members in 2025
2025 saw brands Diptyque and doTERRA join the UEBT platform, and international processing companies such as BASF Beauty Care and Givaudan. Overall membership grew 13% over the year, from 190 members at the end of 2024 to 215 by the end of 2025.
New UEBT members in 2025
Impact Highlights
UEBT’s new toolkit on local Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) systems has been designed to help local suppliers—often operating with limited resources and high external pressure—move from reactive compliance toward proactive, risk‑based human rights management. Fully aligned with the UN Guiding Principles and OECD guidelines, the toolkit provides structured guidance on roles, policies, risk identification, mitigation, remediation, monitoring, and grievance mechanisms. It is supported by templates, training modules, practical guidance, and a step‑by‑step engagement process that includes baseline assessments, situation analyses, tailored action plans, and ongoing support. The toolkit has already been applied in diverse sourcing contexts, including Brazil , Egypt , India, Turkey, and Madagascar . Across these settings, UEBT and local partners have raised awareness on what human rights due diligence means in practice and in different contexts, identified gaps, and supported action plans to improve systems and practices. At the UEBT conference, UEBT shared early lessons, including the importance of supply chain mapping, risk analysis and effective grievance mechanism. UEBT is continuing to develop and roll out this toolkit, as well as supporting templates and material.
Presentation of UEBT toolkit at UEBT Sourcing with Respect conference - Oct 2025
Standard Revision: to improve impact
In 2025 we began our revision of the UEBT standard. The revision was based on a review carried out the previous year that determined the standard was still fit for purpose but required a limited revision focused on improving the standard where needed for clarity, or improved applicability or impact.
We held a consultation focused on users of the standard, with a wide variety of ways people could provide comments, including in-person at the UEBT members’ exchange, via an online survey, and in workshops held in Brazil, Bulgaria, China, India, Madagascar, South Africa, Türkiye, Vietnam, Madagascar engaging both UEBT and non UEBT members. UEBT also held community-level workshops with local groups in Madagascar and the Amazon region of Brazil.
UEBT shared a ‘consultation draft’ that was well received by stakeholders throughout the consultation period. The UEBT Standard and Assurance Committee continues to oversee the process, which continues into 2026 for finalisation of the second consultation draft and field testing before the new standard is published.
227 people joined the consultation
From 25 countries
Online consultation opportunity and local consultations conducted in 7 countries
UEBT Policy briefs support to members
In 2025, UEBT strengthened its policy support to members by produceding specialised briefs on three major EU sustainability regulations. These briefs interpret complex requirements through the lens of botanicals supply chains. By translating regulatory developments into practical guidance, UEBT is supporting and guiding companies to understand what the changes mean for their sourcing systems, supplier relationships, and biodiversity commitments. Three briefs were made available:
EU Deforestation Regulation – Practical guidance for botanical sourcing
UEBT’s policy brief clarifies how deforestation requirements apply to plant-based ingredients and derived products, highlighting the importance of traceability, supply chain mapping, and risk assessment systems for botanical raw materials. The brief advises companies to strengthen supplier engagement, improve documentation of origin and legality, and align due diligence systems with EUDR expectations.
Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive – Embedding due diligence in value chains
UEBT’s CSDDD brief focuses on how companies can operationalise risk-based human rights and environmental due diligence within complex, multi-tier botanical supply chains. It advises companies to integrate due diligence into sourcing policies, strengthen grievance and remediation mechanisms, prioritize high-risk sourcing regions, and work collaboratively with suppliers to prevent and mitigate adverse impacts.
Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive – Making biodiversity reporting actionable
UEBT’s CSRD brief interprets the directive’s biodiversity and value-chain disclosure requirements in practical terms for companies sourcing natural ingredients. It provides advice on conducting double materiality assessments that meaningfully capture biodiversity dependencies and impacts in botanical supply chains, strengthening data collection from suppliers, and integrating existing responsible sourcing frameworks into reporting.
Sector collaboration
UEBT’s work to promote sector collaborations strengthen the roots of botanical supply chains by bringing together various stakeholders – from companies, producers, and international, national, and local partners together in voluntary, precompetitive initiatives that address shared risks and unlock collective solutions. Across efforts such as the IFRA-UEBT Responsible Sourcing Initiative, the Working Group on responsible sourcing of Guaiac Wood essential oil (WGGW), and the Bulgaria Rose Wworking Ggroups, and the Initiative for Responsible Carnauba, diverse actors join forces to advance responsible practices, improve conditions in sourcing landscapes, and regenerate the ecosystems that sustain key botanicals. These partnerships demonstrate how collaboration can complement and amplify individual company efforts—helping the sector anticipate disruption, build resilience, and protect the people and biodiversity at the heart of botanical sourcing.
Some of our active sector collaboration initiatives in 2025:
TABLE
Bulgaria Rose Working Group
The Bulgaria Rose Working Group, launched in March 2025 brings together rose producers, distilleries, fragrance houses, and local and national associations to collectively strengthen responsible sourcing in the Bulgarian rose sector. Prior groundwork—including risk mapping and multistakeholder dialogue—set the stage for this collaboration.
Work in 2025 focused on understanding and developing approaches to address key social and environmental risks such as child labour, informal work, and inappropriate agrochemical practices. Activities included training of companies, farmers, and pickers, establishing a qualitative baseline of risks, gaps and good practices in the Bulgaria rose sector and developing a strategy for further collaboration and joint action on the ground. UNICEF Bulgaria is an observer and key implementing partners. See members below.
Regenerative Programme Evolves in 2025
Most companies frame their biodiversity strategies along a continuum—from reducing negative impacts to actively regenerating ecosystems. Promoting regenerative supply chains, whether certified, verified, or following their own robust internal standards, has become a tangible way to advance the “regenerative” end of that continuum.
In this context, UEBT’s Regenerative Programme continued to evolve in 2025, strengthening the foundations needed to scale regenerative practices across priority botanicals and landscapes. Work this year focused on establishing baselines, deepening engagement, and building the technical groundwork for long‑term restoration outcomes.
2025 Highlights
Longtime UEBT member Natura is pursuing regenerative certification as part of its broader Nature Strategy, using the UEBT certified regenerative practices claim on specific ingredients to demonstrate progress toward its commitment to restore nature.
Established regenerative design across botanical supply chains in partnership with UEBT members and partners in Açaí, Castanha, Babaçu, Rooibos, Vanilla, Citrus, Rose, Cassia, Chamomile and several other supply chains.
Completed biodiversity assessments in cultivation, wild collection, and agroforestry systems, documenting native species and ecological functions.
Delivered good agricultural practices and regenerative training to producer groups and cooperative leaders.
Consolidated baselines regenerative indicator assessments through remote sensing.
Provided independent assurance against the regenerative add-on to the UEBT standard to validate progress made via UEBT assessment programmes such as certification.
Supply Chain Assessments
Expansion of the Risk Database
In 2025, UEBT increased by 20% the number of risk profiles in the UEBT Responsible Sourcing Risk Database, reaching 260 risk profiles by end of December. We used valuable feedback we received from users at the beginning of the year to prioritise risk profiles that are of most interest in sourcing.
Each individual risk profile focuses on one natural raw material in a specific country, e.g. Marula in South Africa, Ginger in Vietnam etc. The information looks at more than 25 indicators to provide scores on social and environmental risks found in conventional, uncontrolled supply chains for that specific natural raw material in that geography.
In 2026, UEBT will be continuing to work on expanding and improving both the content and the interface of the UEBT risk database, prioritising feedback gathered from users. The database will be accessible from the new and improved version of UEBT’s platform, Grove, that is coming in 2026.