Search Climate Insights Directory

The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) prohibits the placement or export of specific commodities—coffee, cocoa, rubber, cattle, palm oil, wood, and soy—from the EU market unless they are deforestation-free, legally produced, and covered by a due diligence statement. The regulation applies to deforestation occurring after December 31, 2020. While large companies must comply by December 30, 2025, micro and small enterprises have until June 30, 2026. SMEs benefit from specific exemptions, such as not needing to submit due diligence statements for products already covered by one and being exempt from annual public reporting. However, they remain vulnerable to indirect supply chain risks and financial repercussions if their partners fail to comply. The EU is implementing a country risk benchmarking system by June 30, 2025, to categorize countries as low, standard, or high risk. Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSSs) are recognized as supporting tools for risk assessment and traceability, though they do not exempt operators from their legal due diligence obligations. Non-compliance can lead to fines of at least 4% of a company's EU turnover, product confiscation, and trading bans.

The 2030 Global Forest Vision provides a framework for governments to accelerate progress toward 2030 forest goals through actions in national planning, trade, finance, land rights, and governance. It emphasizes the need for integrated climate and biodiversity plans, the scaling of finance via mechanisms like the Tropical Forest Finance Facility (TFFF) and REDD+, and the recognition of Indigenous and local community land rights. The report also calls for financial regulators to address forest-related risks, the repurposing of harmful agricultural subsidies, and the restructuring of sovereign debt to value natural capital.

The document analyzes the scope of 'relevant legislation' under the EUDR, arguing for a broad, teleological interpretation that includes any law with a significant link to halting deforestation, regardless of whether it regulates formal land interests or is limited strictly to the production phase.

A joint letter from various NGOs urging the European Commission to ensure the EUDR benchmarking process is based on objective risk criteria rather than political factors or sanctions.

The study finds that charcoal production in the Argentine Dry Chaco is dominated by individual or small-scale producers often associated with forest land cover, while larger kiln clusters are linked to cleared land for cultivation. While overall regional production has remained stable for 50 years, there has been a redistribution of activity from wealthier to poorer provinces. The authors conclude that small-scale production by poor rural populations currently provides the only market incentive for forest preservation, though it is characterized by inefficiency and forest degradation.

The Forests Forward Impact Report 2025 details the outcomes of a WWF programme that partners with 26 companies across 9 sectors in 23 countries to transition from forest extraction to conservation and regeneration. Key achievements include the management of 2.679 million hectares of tropical forests, with 75% being FSC certified, and the implementation of large-scale landscape projects in Brazil, Viet Nam, and the Congo Basin. The programme focuses on three action areas: responsible sourcing, improving forest management, and financing forest landscapes, while emphasizing the role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in forest stewardship.

The RECAF project seeks USD 35 million from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and USD 32.434 million in loans from IFAD to reduce GHG emissions by 6.68 MtCO2-eq over 12 years. The project focuses on five provinces: Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Gia Lai, Lam Dong, and Ninh Thuan. It aims to transform 145,000 hectares of forestland into agroforestry systems and protect 500,000 hectares of natural forests. Key strategies include upgrading the National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS), establishing public-private-producer partnerships (4Ps) for deforestation-free commodities like coffee and pepper, and implementing a performance-based Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) mechanism. The project targets 420,000 direct beneficiaries, with a strong focus on ethnic minorities and women, to improve livelihoods and climate resilience.

Trase's co-directors criticize proposed EPP amendments to the EUDR, specifically the introduction of a "no risk" country category. They argue that the criteria for this category—such as stable net forest area—are scientifically flawed and could mask significant deforestation, create legal uncertainty regarding WTO rules, and introduce loopholes that undermine the regulation's effectiveness.

The World Resources Institute warns that proposed amendments to the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) risk 'defanging' the law through the creation of a 'no-risk' country category, the use of an outdated 1990 reference year for forest assessments, and ambiguous language that creates uncertainty for stakeholders and potential trade disputes.

A coalition of civil society organisations calls on EU authorities to reject a proposed twelve-month delay to the EU deforestation-free products regulation (EUDR), arguing that such a postponement undermines the European Green Deal and rewards companies profiting from environmental destruction.

The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) aims to eliminate deforestation-driven imports of commodities like palm oil, rubber, cocoa, coffee, soy, and cattle. However, the briefing highlights that stringent due diligence requirements—including geolocation and traceability—risk excluding smallholder farmers in Southeast Asia who lack the financial resources, technical capacity, and legal land tenure to comply. The document argues that without targeted support, such as knowledge hubs, financial mechanisms for compliance costs, and improved stakeholder coordination, smallholders may be pushed out of the global value chain. It emphasizes that local context is critical, as many smallholders operate through informal transactions and lack the certifications required by the EU market.

The We Mean Business Coalition urges governments to align NDCs with a 1.5°C pathway and the Global Stocktake outcomes to provide the policy stability necessary for business investment. The call to action focuses on three pillars: setting ambitious economy-wide and sector-specific targets, developing consistent national and sectoral policy frameworks, and establishing inclusive dialogues with the private sector to co-create implementation solutions.

ClientEarth and a coalition of NGOs call on EU Member States to fully implement the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) without delay, warning that insufficient resource allocation in countries like Germany and Romania, alongside lobbying efforts to postpone obligations, threaten the regulation's effectiveness in reducing the EU's deforestation footprint.

The proposal aims to address the lack of coordination between climate, biodiversity, and development strategies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It proposes a 24-month project to create a 30x30 investment strategy that integrates biodiversity conservation with climate mitigation and adaptation, specifically focusing on the rights and engagement of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPs and LCs). Key activities include spatial modelling to identify priority conservation areas, policy alignment analysis, the development of a business plan for 30x30 implementation, and the submission of a technically sound GCF project concept note.

The Agri-Food DCF Sourcing Criteria establish a framework for certifying agri-food entities that source commodities from land not subject to deforestation or natural ecosystem conversion after December 31, 2020. The criteria apply to supply chain actors—such as traders, processors, and retailers—generating at least 50% of their revenue from agri-food supply chains. Compliance requires that 90% of an entity's net procurement spend be compliant, with individual commodities accounting for 1% or more of spend included in the scope. Traceability requirements vary by risk: high-risk countries and specific commodities (cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, pulp and paper, and soy) require geolocation to the original production land plot, while low-risk origins may only require country-of-origin tracing until January 1, 2030. Mass-balance chains of custody are prohibited. Certification is valid for five years, subject to annual verifications by approved verifiers who sample at least 10% of procured volume and suppliers.

The document defines key forestry terms and outlines the methodology for tracking progress toward the 2030 goals of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use. It establishes a 2018-2020 baseline and a linear reduction pathway requiring a 10 percent annual reduction in loss to reach zero deforestation by 2030. The methodology covers the calculation of gross deforestation, humid tropical primary forest loss, greenhouse gas emissions, and forest degradation using the Forest Landscape Integrity Index (FLII). It also details indicators for forest restoration, including tropical moist forest regrowth and area under restoration, and biodiversity impacts via 7,025 Forested Key Biodiversity Areas (fKBAs).

The 2024 Forest Declaration Assessment finds that the world is largely off track to meet its 2030 forest goals. In 2023, 6.37 million hectares of forest were permanently lost, exceeding the target required to eliminate deforestation by 45 percent. Tropical deforestation remains high, particularly in Asia, while primary forest loss is 38 percent higher than necessary to be on track. Forest degradation is widespread, with 62.6 million hectares losing ecological integrity in 2022. The report also highlights an escalation in forest fire frequency and intensity, with 138 million hectares of tree cover burned between 2001 and 2023. Restoration efforts are hindered by a lack of transparent monitoring, though tropical forest regrowth increased significantly after 2015. Biodiversity in forests is also under threat, with tree cover loss in forested Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) spiking by 10 percent in 2023.

The 2024 Forest Declaration Assessment finds that the world is off track to meet 2030 goals to stop and reverse deforestation and degradation. In 2023, 6.37 million hectares of forest were permanently lost, with tropical humid primary forest loss 38% higher than required to be on track. Key drivers include unsustainable production of agricultural commodities and extractive industries, often fueled by demand from industrialized nations like China and the EU. While some progress is noted in forest governance and the expansion of protected areas, significant gaps remain in funding for Indigenous peoples and local communities. The report argues for a radical shift from exploitative consumption models toward circularity and rights-based governance to safeguard critical ecosystems.

The 2024 Forest Declaration Assessment finds that the world is far from meeting its 2030 goals to stop and reverse deforestation and degradation. In 2023, 6.37 million hectares of forest were permanently lost globally, with tropical regions in Africa and Asia failing to meet their targets. Primary forest loss remains alarmingly high, and forest degradation affects an area ten times larger than that of permanent deforestation. The report identifies unsustainable production and consumption—particularly of agricultural commodities, fossil fuels, and minerals—as primary drivers. While some progress is noted in countries like Brazil and Indonesia, and through new EU regulations like the EUDR, the report highlights a massive gap between 'green' and 'grey' financing, with trillions in harmful subsidies continuing to drive ecosystem loss. It emphasizes the critical role of Indigenous peoples and local communities, who face significant violence and limited direct access to funding despite their role as forest guardians.

The 2024 assessment finds that global goals to end deforestation and forest degradation by 2030 remain out of reach, with 6.37 million hectares of forest permanently lost in 2023. While some progress is noted in countries like Brazil and Indonesia, global pressures from unsustainable production—particularly agriculture and mining—persist. The report highlights a critical gap between 'green' and 'grey' financing, noting that environmentally harmful subsidies far outweigh investments in forest protection. It also emphasizes the ongoing struggle for indigenous land rights and the increasing threat of human-induced forest fires. The document recommends a radical shift in consumption patterns, the reallocation of harmful subsidies, and the implementation of rights-based governance to protect global forest ecosystems.