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The document highlights that tropical deforestation contributes 50% more to global warming than carbon emissions alone when biophysical effects are included. These effects—albedo, evapotranspiration, surface roughness, and aerosols—regulate local temperatures and regional rainfall. Deforestation disrupts these processes, leading to decreased crop yields (e.g., a 12% drop in soy productivity in Brazil) and increased heat stress for workers. The authors urge companies and investors to move beyond reputational goals and address these material risks through jurisdictional collaboration, improved spatial analysis, and stricter financial disclosures.

The document highlights that tropical deforestation contributes 50% more to global warming than carbon emissions alone due to biophysical processes like albedo, evapotranspiration, surface roughness, and aerosols. These non-carbon effects cause local temperature spikes and regional rainfall disruptions, leading to direct productivity losses in commodities such as soy and impacting worker safety through heat stress. It calls on companies and financial institutions to move beyond reputational risk management and address these material operational risks through jurisdictional cooperation, improved spatial research, and stricter portfolio alignment.

Initiative 20x20 is a regional partnership in Latin America and the Caribbean designed to restore degraded landscapes through reforestation, agroforestry, and silvopasture. The initiative has surpassed its initial goal of 20 million hectares and has earmarked US$2.4 billion for project financing. The program addresses the fact that at least 200 million hectares of land in the region are severely degraded and that 49% of regional emissions stem from land-use change, forestry, and agriculture.

The document highlights that tropical deforestation contributes 50% more to global warming than carbon emissions alone suggest due to biophysical processes like albedo, evapotranspiration, surface roughness, and aerosols. These non-carbon effects cause immediate local and regional climate disruptions, such as increased temperature extremes and erratic rainfall, which directly threaten crop yields and worker productivity. For example, deforestation in Brazil is linked to a 12% loss in soy productivity, and Amazonian deforestation is plausibly linked to a 2017 drought in Argentina costing the economy approximately $4.6 billion. The authors argue that while many companies have made deforestation-free commitments to manage reputational risks, they often overlook these material operational risks. To mitigate these, the report recommends that companies and investors increase coordination through coalitions, leverage nature-related financial disclosures, and engage in jurisdictional-scale conservation efforts that extend beyond their own direct supply chains.

The document explains that forests influence climate stability through four non-carbon biophysical processes: albedo, evapotranspiration, surface roughness, and aerosols. It highlights that tropical deforestation contributes 50% more to global warming than carbon accounting alone suggests and can increase local peak temperatures by over 7.6°C. The authors propose six specific actions for UNFCCC parties to integrate these effects into national GHG inventories, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), REDD+ financing, adaptation planning, the Global Stocktake, and the IPCC's Seventh Assessment Report.

The study concludes that anthropogenic climate change made the record-breaking early season heat in northern Argentina and Paraguay approximately 60 times more likely. The analysis focused on the 7-day average of daily maximum temperatures, finding that the 2022 event was an exceptional occurrence that would have been unlikely without human-induced warming. The report also highlights the region's high vulnerability due to urban heat island effects, informal settlements lacking electricity, and the timing of the heatwave before populations had acclimated to summer temperatures.

The study finds that while the 2022 drought in Central South America was primarily driven by natural variability and La Niña conditions, human-induced climate change exacerbated the event by increasing temperatures, which reduced water availability through higher evapotranspiration. The drought caused severe agricultural losses in Argentina, including a projected 25-50% decrease in soy yields and a significant drop in wheat production, while limiting potable water access for over 75,000 people in Uruguay.

The guide outlines a structured approach to achieving deforestation- and conversion-free (DCF) leather supply chains, emphasizing the transition from fragmented mapping to event-based traceability. It advocates for the adoption of global standards, specifically GS1 EPCIS, to ensure data interoperability across complex multi-tier networks. The document details an 11-step implementation roadmap, ranging from internal assessments and pilot projects with trusted partners to the integration of geospatial analysis and third-party verification. It distinguishes between serialized traceability for individual animals and lot-based traceability for processed hides, proposing a hybrid model to balance precision with operational feasibility.