Tropical Forests and Climate

The document asserts that tropical deforestation is now "enterprise-driven," fueled by the expansion of cattle ranching, soybean production, and oil palm plantations to serve urban and export markets. It highlights that this process is responsible for approximately 15 percent of global warming pollution. The author argues that because deforestation is driven by business interests and distant consumer demand, it can be mitigated through political pressure on industries and financial mechanisms like REDD+, without harming poor farmers.

• Tropical deforestation is currently driven by large commercial agricultural and timber enterprises rather than subsistence farmers, contributing to approximately 15 percent of global warming pollution worldwide.
• The primary drivers of current deforestation are the expansion of oil palm plantations, commercial soybean production, and large cattle ranches. In the Amazon, cattle ranching is the leading cause, followed by large-scale soybean farming for livestock feed.
• Deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia is particularly damaging to the climate because the clearing and burning of rain forests release carbon dioxide from both the trees and the high-carbon peat soils.
• Modern deforestation is "enterprise-driven," meaning it is carried out by businesses to supply urban and export markets, contrasting with previous "state-driven" patterns of small-farmer colonization.
• The REDD+ policy approach, which provides financial incentives to tropical countries to reduce emissions from deforestation, is presented as an effective tool. This has been implemented by Brazil and Norway via the Amazon Fund to reduce deforestation rates in the Amazon.

APA

Boucher, D. (2010). Tropical Forests and Climate. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/Deforestation-Today-It-s-Just-Business.pdf

Chicago

Boucher, Doug. Tropical Forests and Climate. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2010. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/Deforestation-Today-It-s-Just-Business.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Boucher |first1=Doug |title=Tropical Forests and Climate |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=November 2010 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/Deforestation-Today-It-s-Just-Business.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{boucher2010tropical, author = {Boucher, Doug}, title = {{Tropical Forests and Climate}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2010}, month = nov, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/Deforestation-Today-It-s-Just-Business.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }