Financial sector must raise its voice to save the world’s forests

Global Witness asserts that the financial sector is failing to meet its voluntary deforestation pledges, noting that institutions without 'zero deforestation' policies invested $3.6 trillion in forest-risk companies last year. The author calls for financial leaders to support mandatory due diligence laws in the EU, UK, and US, and for Chinese banks to prioritize deforestation risks in their ESG guidance to prevent irreversible tipping points in forests like the Amazon.

• Financial institutions lacking 'zero deforestation' policies invested $3.6 trillion in companies posing a risk to forests in the previous year.
• Members of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), including Deutsche Bank, State Street, Vanguard, and BlackRock, increased their investments in businesses linked to deforestation between COP26 and COP27, despite pledges to reach net zero by 2050.
• The Finance Sector Deforestation Action Initiative (FSDA), comprising over 30 financial institutions managing more than $8.9 trillion, committed at COP26 to use "best efforts" to remove agriculture-driven deforestation from portfolios by 2025.
• Global agribusinesses are projected to lose an average of 7% in value by 2030 because of unpriced nature and climate risks.
• The document identifies specific regulatory opportunities in 2023: the European Commission's impact assessment on extending due diligence to financial institutions, the UK's Financial Services and Markets Bill, the US FOREST Act, and the application of ESG guidelines by Chinese banking regulators.

APA

Global Witness (2023). Financial sector must raise its voice to save the world’s forests. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/financial-sector-must-raise-its-voice-to-save-the-worlds-forests/

Chicago

Global Witness. Financial sector must raise its voice to save the world’s forests. 2023. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/financial-sector-must-raise-its-voice-to-save-the-worlds-forests/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Global Witness |title=Financial sector must raise its voice to save the world’s forests |date=2023 |url=https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/financial-sector-must-raise-its-voice-to-save-the-worlds-forests/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{globalwitness2023financial, author = {{Global Witness}}, title = {{Financial sector must raise its voice to save the world’s forests}}, publisher = {Global Witness}, year = {2023}, url = {https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/financial-sector-must-raise-its-voice-to-save-the-worlds-forests/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }