Goal 2 assessment: Eliminating deforestation from agricultural commodities

The 2020 assessment finds that supply chain efforts have failed to eliminate deforestation from agricultural commodities, with tree cover loss in 2018 remaining similar to levels before the New York Declaration on Forests. While palm oil and timber sectors show more advanced commitment and traceability tools, the beef and soy sectors in Latin America lag significantly. Most corporate commitments lack comprehensive scope, and full traceability to the point of production remains rare. The report highlights a gap in reporting, with many influential companies failing to disclose progress, and notes that financial institutions have largely failed to set clear policies to remove deforestation from their investments.

• Supply chain initiatives have not succeeded in eliminating deforestation from agricultural commodities by 2020; tree cover loss in 2018 was similar to the decade preceding the New York Declaration on Forests.
• Corporate commitments are unevenly distributed across commodities and regions, with the beef and soy sectors in Latin America showing the lowest levels of action compared to palm oil and timber in Southeast Asia.
• The quality and scope of corporate commitments are generally insufficient, with only 15% of the most influential companies (Forest 500) having commitments aligned with the Accountability Framework initiative (AFi) that cover all supply chains and sourcing regions.
• Traceability to the point of production is rare; only 5% of the 350 most influential companies assessed by Forest 500 have traceability and compliance checks for all their commodities.
• Certification schemes, particularly for palm oil, often fail to guarantee zero-deforestation due to the use of 'Book and Claim' or 'Mass Balance' systems that do not separate sustainable from unsustainable products.
• Financial institutions are lagging in their responsibility to manage deforestation risks, with only 14% of the 150 largest financial institutions having a commitment for all forest-risk commodities they financed in 2019.
• Consumer countries in Europe are introducing due diligence laws and strategies to end imported deforestation, though implementation varies and some firms continue to fail in monitoring their supply chains.

APA

Bakhtary, H. (2020). Goal 2 assessment: Eliminating deforestation from agricultural commodities. Forest Declaration Assessment. https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2020NYDFGoal2.pdf

Chicago

Bakhtary, Haseeb. Goal 2 assessment: Eliminating deforestation from agricultural commodities. Forest Declaration Assessment, 2020. https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2020NYDFGoal2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bakhtary |first1=Haseeb |title=Goal 2 assessment: Eliminating deforestation from agricultural commodities |publisher=Forest Declaration Assessment |date=November 2020 |url=https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2020NYDFGoal2.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bakhtary2020goal, author = {Bakhtary, Haseeb}, title = {{Goal 2 assessment: Eliminating deforestation from agricultural commodities}}, institution = {Forest Declaration Assessment}, year = {2020}, month = nov, url = {https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/2020NYDFGoal2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }