Nicole Rycroft, Founder and Executive Director of Canopy, shares a comprehensive view of how her organization leverages the global marketplace to catalyze large-scale forest conservation. Founded in 1999, Canopy is a solutions-driven nonprofit dedicated to safeguarding the world’s ancient and endangered forests by working with diverse stakeholders, including key corporate actors to reform supply chains traditionally reliant on forest degradation. Today, Canopy collaborates with over 1,000 brands, including major names like H&M, LVMH, and Penguin Random House, to help shift the fiber sourcing for packaging, paper, and textiles toward more circular, low-carbon alternatives.

At the heart of Canopy’s strategy is an understanding that forests are deeply intertwined with the global economy. Each year, more than five billion trees are cut down for consumer products, many from high-carbon, biodiverse ecosystems critical for climate stability. Recognizing that supply chains are a major driver of deforestation, Canopy works directly with corporations to develop robust environmental policies and to pressure suppliers to move away from sourcing from vital forests. Moreover, Canopy engages companies in advocating for systemic policy changes and creating space at decision-making tables for Indigenous and local community leaders.

Rycroft emphasizes the profound evolution of corporate attitudes toward sustainability over the past two decades. Where once sustainability registered as a low-level concern, today it sits as a strategic priority at the C-suite level. Companies are increasingly driven by the need for resilient supply chains, regulatory compliance, and achieving climate targets. The volatility of traditional supply chains—exacerbated by climate change, wildfires, and resource scarcity—has pushed executives to seek more circular and sustainable models.

An integral part of Canopy’s work is building bridges between the corporate sector and Indigenous communities, whose stewardship has preserved much of the world's remaining biodiversity. Through storytelling and direct engagement, Indigenous leaders have been effective at connecting with corporate audiences, making the case for conservation through a deeply human lens that complements economic and regulatory arguments.

A significant current initiative is Canopy’s work in India, aimed at scaling "next generation" (Next Gen) fiber solutions—transforming agricultural waste and recycled textiles into paper, packaging, and clothing. India’s vast agricultural residue problem, coupled with its global leadership in textile manufacturing, presents a major opportunity. In response, Canopy is developing a $2 billion blended finance platform to catalyze investment in this emerging sector, with plans to replicate this model in other regions of the Global South. The initiative reflects a broader shift toward blended finance mechanisms that leverage grants, concessional capital, and private investments to accelerate sustainable industrial transformation.

Rycroft concludes by emphasizing that the solutions needed to safeguard forests and transition to circular supply chains already exist and are ready to scale. Bold corporate leadership and smart capital deployment will be key in the decisive decade ahead. With a growing coalition of committed brands and an urgent ecological timeline, the momentum for systemic change is tangible—and Canopy stands at the forefront of this effort.

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