Deforestation can't be stopped by voluntary action alone

The author asserts that voluntary zero-deforestation commitments by companies are inadequate because only 12% of agricultural commodity supply chain companies have such commitments and the pace of new ones has slowed. The text highlights that half of tropical deforestation is illegal, driven by demand for palm oil, soy, beef, and pulp and paper, resulting in global government revenue losses exceeding $17 billion annually. To address this, the author proposes legislation in the United States to make importing products of illegal deforestation illegal, citing previous U.S. trade protections against illegal timber as a successful model that reduced illegal wood imports and sparked global policy reforms.

• Half of all tropical deforestation is illegal, occurring through permit violations, bribery for land, and failure to identify community rights, which leads to global government revenue losses estimated at over $17 billion per year.
• Tropical deforestation is primarily driven by the demand for specific commodities, namely beef, soy, palm oil, and pulp and paper.
• Voluntary corporate efforts are insufficient to reach zero deforestation across economic sectors, as only 12% of companies in agricultural commodity supply chains have a zero- or zero-net deforestation commitment covering all sourced commodities.
• Demand-side regulation prohibiting the import of illegal products is necessary to force non-compliant companies to reform and to increase the value of traceable, legal production.
• Previous U.S. Congressional trade protections against illegal timber successfully reduced illegal wood imports and encouraged similar policy reforms globally.

APA

Schatz (2020). Deforestation can't be stopped by voluntary action alone. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/deforestation-voluntary-action-regulation/

Chicago

Schatz. Deforestation can't be stopped by voluntary action alone. World Economic Forum, 2020. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/deforestation-voluntary-action-regulation/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Schatz |title=Deforestation can't be stopped by voluntary action alone |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=15 January 2020 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/deforestation-voluntary-action-regulation/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{schatz2020deforestation, author = {Schatz}, title = {{Deforestation can't be stopped by voluntary action alone}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2020}, month = jan, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/deforestation-voluntary-action-regulation/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }