SWEET NOTHINGS

Mighty Earth's analysis of satellite data and field research indicates that tropical forest destruction in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana remains high despite the 2017 Cocoa & Forests Initiative. The report highlights ongoing canopy loss in protected areas and a lack of transparent monitoring systems, calling for joint public monitoring and a shift toward agroforestry.

• Overall forest clearance levels in the key cocoa-producing regions of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana remain near record highs, with significant losses occurring in designated protected areas that serve as carbon sinks and wildlife habitats.
• In Côte d'Ivoire, historical tree cover loss since January 2019 has been 2.3 times higher than the 2001-2017 period and 3.4 times higher than the average loss during the 2000s.
• Ghana experienced a significant spike in deforestation in 2020; countrywide tree cover loss since January 2019 was 3.7 times higher than the 2001-2010 period and 1.5 times higher than the 2011-2019 average.
• The Cocoa & Forests Initiative (CFI) has failed to establish promised traceability and monitoring systems; Côte d'Ivoire's national cocoa traceability system and Ghana's 100% sourcing traceability goals for December 2019 did not materialize.
• Deforestation continues within specific protected areas: Mont Péko National Park lost over 350 ha of forest in 2020, and Ghana's Sui River Forest Reserve lost 1,328 ha since 2019.

APA

Oram, J., Harris, J., Touré, A., Mawutor, S., & Hurowitz, A. (2022). SWEET NOTHINGS. Mighty Earth. https://www.mightyearth.org/wp-content/uploads/MightyEarthSweetNothingsReportFINAL.pdf

Chicago

Oram, Julian, Jackson Harris, Amourlaye Touré, Samuel Mawutor, and Amanda Hurowitz. SWEET NOTHINGS. Mighty Earth, 2022. https://www.mightyearth.org/wp-content/uploads/MightyEarthSweetNothingsReportFINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Oram |first1=Julian |last2=Harris |first2=Jackson |last3=Touré |first3=Amourlaye |last4=Mawutor |first4=Samuel |last5=Hurowitz |first5=Amanda |title=SWEET NOTHINGS |publisher=Mighty Earth |date=February 2022 |url=https://www.mightyearth.org/wp-content/uploads/MightyEarthSweetNothingsReportFINAL.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{oram2022sweet, author = {Oram, Julian and Harris, Jackson and Touré, Amourlaye and Mawutor, Samuel and Hurowitz, Amanda}, title = {{SWEET NOTHINGS}}, institution = {Mighty Earth}, year = {2022}, month = feb, url = {https://www.mightyearth.org/wp-content/uploads/MightyEarthSweetNothingsReportFINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }