The proposed EU law on deforestation-free products: what does it include and what is left out?

The European Commission’s proposal for an EU regulation on deforestation-free products, published on 17 November 2021, marks a long-overdue leap forward in global environmental governance. It is a flagship initiative under the European Green Deal with the goal to minimise the EU’s impact on forests worldwide.

This proposal is extremely important: EU demand for forest-risk commodities drives agricultural expansion, which is the biggest cause of global deforestation and the biggest driver of biodiversity loss on land. Global deforestation rates, especially in the tropics (where forests have the highest climate and biodiversity value) have remained high for years – or have been increasing, and global demand for the commodities linked to that deforestation – like beef, soy, palm oil, cocoa, coffee, timber and rubber, also continues to grow.

So what exactly does it include? And what has been left out? ClientEarth has published a comprehensive briefing that provides an overview of several important elements, weaknesses and omissions.