🌱 Why is it so important to halt deforestation?
As it is not possible to “protect the Earth’s biodiversity without protecting our forest”, action to halt deforestation needs to be taken urgently.[i]
🌱 How much forest has been lost?
Over the past 8000 years, around 45% of the original forest cover has disappeared globally. Notably, most of this original forest cover has been cleared and lost in this past century alone.[ii] Currently, China and the US are responsible for 30% of the global deforestation annually and the European Union for around 14%.[iii]
🌱 How much deforestation is caused by the EU’s direct imports?
According to the not-for-profit initiative Trase (founded by the Stockholm Environment Institute and Global Canopy), the direct imports of the EU effectively exposed it to a yearly average of 190 500 hectares of deforestation, in the time frame from 2019 to 2021. For reference, the area deforested yearly is ten times greater than the size of Brussels. The EU’s deforestation occurred mostly (61% altogether) in Côte d’Ivoire (19.9%), Brazil (16.0%), Indonesia (11.6%), Ghana (8.7%) and Malaysia (4.7%). The EU commodities that caused the most deforestation (84% altogether) “were cocoa (33.7%), oil palm products (19.3%), coffee (13.0%), soy (9.2%), and cattle products (8.9%)”.[iv]
🌱 What laws has the EU enacted to protect forests?
Over the course of the past few years, the EU has therefore enacted several new laws that aim to help prevent or reverse global deforestation and habitat loss trends. The most significant amongst these include the EU’s Nature Restoration Law, the Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR), and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). While the Nature Restoration Law sets binding targets on EU member states to restore ecosystems, the EUDR and CSDDD require companies to carry out due diligence and risk assessments.
This post has been adapted from a newsletter written by Christine Nikander and Heidrun Kordholste-Nikander. The newsletter titled “How can businesses protect forests and their biodiversity?” was originally published in “The Just Transition Newsletter” by Palsa & Pulk.
[i] UN Environment Programme: Earth’s biodiversity depends on the world’s forests. https://www.unep-wcmc.org/en/news/earths-biodiversity-depends-on-the-worlds-forests (21.08.2024)
[ii] Convention on Biological Diversity: Forest Biodiversity, What’s the Problem? https://www.cbd.int/forest/problem.shtml (21.08.2024)
[iii] Maxwwell, Radwin: Mongabay News & inspiration from nature’s frontline; Mining may contribute to deforestation more than previously thought, report says. https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/mining-may-contribute-to-deforestation-more-than-previously-thought-report-says/ (20.04.2024)
[iv] Trase: EU27 countries in the spotlight for deforestation exposure. https://trase.earth/insights/eu27-countries-in-the-spotlight-for-deforestation-exposure (21.08.2024)