Erasmus zu Ermgassen

The European Union, UK and US have passed, or are in the process of passing, legislation which places a duty on companies to prove that products they import do not come from recently deforested land. Businesses and governments are ramping up efforts to address emissions and deforestation in their supply chains, but the scale at which these initiatives are being implemented limits their effectiveness in tackling deforestation.

BeefBrazilChinaExplainerExpansion and deforestation The rate of deforestation and land conversion driven by the expansion of pasture for beef production in Brazil increased by 60% between 2016 and 2020, while the Amazon and Cerrado continue to be cleared despite zero-deforestation commitments made by beef producers. By Tiago Reis, Erasmus zu Ermgassen and Osvaldo Pereira Brazil is the world’s second largest beef producer and the largest exporter.

A new Trase study finds that Germany is exposed to deforestation risk from Brazilian soy embedded in processed products and imported through intermediary countries. By Chris West and Mark Titley Soy is one of the largest sources of commodity deforestation risk for Germany. Globally, soy production has expanded dramatically over the past 50 years, and has more than doubled since 2000 ( UN FAO ), mostly for animal feed.