International trade is one of the key drivers of deforestation.

The EU and UK are major importers of commodities like palm oil, soy, beef, cocoa and rubber, as well as timber, that are associated with deforestation, the destruction of important natural ecosystems like wetlands, savannahs and peatlands, and human rights violations.

We work with partners across the globe to develop stronger laws and policies that tackle deforestation caused by the illegal timber trade and the negative impacts of trade in other forest-risk commodities. We are also working to harness the trading power of the EU and UK to eliminate the destruction of nature and human rights violations from supply chains.

75%

of all deforestation in Southeast Asia results from commodities production.

20%

of all illegally sourced timber ends up in the EU.

What we're doing

The international trade in commodities associated with deforestation is one of the key drivers of widespread destruction of some of the world’s most important forests, including in Brazil and Indonesia.  However, deforestation to produce agricultural commodities and timber isn’t just an environmental problem – it is ruinous for local communities who depend on forests for their livelihoods too.

Stronger laws and ramped up legal actions are needed to combat illegal logging and ensure transparency and accountability in the global supply chains of the agricultural commodities which provide much of the food consumed in developed nations.

  1. Tackling deforestation in the Amazon

    We are working with a range of Brazilian and international partners to determine the legal links and potential liabilities associated with deforestation from beef and soy production in the Amazon.

  2. Holding companies and investors accountable

    We’re pushing for greater legal obligations and stricter scrutiny of supply chains in order to hold companies and investors accountable for the deforestation associated with the production and sale of forest commodities.

  3. Combatting illegal timber

    We work across the EU to ensure that the EU Timber Regulation is well understood and properly enforced to combat illegal timber from entering EU markets.

What we've achieved

We played a key role in the policy advocacy process that has now led to the development of two parallel legislative processes in the EU and UK to create legally binding standards of care in the global agricultural commodities trade. These processes are underway now, and we are involved in every step to make sure the laws that result are as strong as possible in combating deforestation.