Search Climate Insights Directory

This research paper synthesizes evidence on agriculture-driven tropical deforestation, finding that while agriculture drove 90-99% of deforestation between 2011-2015, only 45-65% of that land became productive agriculture. The authors argue that international supply chain measures are limited because 33-50% of such deforestation does not result in managed land and roughly 75% of expansion is driven by domestic demand in producer countries, particularly in Africa.

A research paper quantifying tropical deforestation emissions from 2010–2014, finding that agriculture and forestry expansion caused ~2.6 gigatonnes CO2 per year. The study highlights that 29%–39% of these emissions were driven by international trade, with cattle and oilseeds as primary drivers and the EU and China as major importers.