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The GFI Guidance Manual provides a qualitative framework for assessing forest governance based on three components (Actors, Rules, Practices) and five principles of good governance (Transparency, Participation, Accountability, Coordination, Capacity). It offers a menu of indicators across six thematic areas—Tenure, Land Use, Management, Revenues, Institutions, and Cross-Cutting Issues—to help researchers and civil society organizations diagnose governance weaknesses and support sustainable forest management and REDD+ programs.

This executive summary, authored by Alice Gerow and Frances Seymour for the World Resources Institute, outlines the material risks that non-carbon biophysical effects of tropical deforestation pose to the private sector. It argues that while many companies focus on carbon emissions and reputational risks, the loss of forests directly threatens agricultural productivity and worker health through changes in local temperature and regional precipitation, thereby destabilizing global supply chains.

This policy brief explains that tropical deforestation causes global warming and local climate instability through non-carbon biophysical processes (albedo, evapotranspiration, surface roughness, and aerosols) in addition to carbon emissions. These effects lead to immediate material risks for the private sector, including reduced agricultural yields and decreased labor productivity due to heat stress. The authors argue that current corporate commitments are insufficient and urge companies and investors to adopt jurisdictional approaches and better spatial analysis to mitigate these risks.