Deforestation leads to the loss of biodiversity and critical ecosystem services and contributes to climate change.
While there is little data on the impact most companies have on deforestation, many have acknowledged its harmful effects and pledged to enact new deforestation commitments.
Today, we can observe how many corporations that are most responsible for deforestation are implementing strategies to reduce deforestation while publicly and transparently reporting on their progress. With more data available, civil society and regulators can demand greater action. We expect new frameworks like the Task Force on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures to help inform future data on corporate impact on deforestation.
Forest 500 tracks the 350 non-financial corporations and 150 financial institutions that are most influential in causing tropical deforestation. Out of the 500 firms, only about 30% have reported material progress toward implementing their deforestation commitments for at least one of the high-risk commodities identified (beef, leather, palm oil, pulp and paper, soy and timber). The decrease in 2022 compared to prior years is mostly due to methodological changes. 45 new firms will need to implement deforestation commitments every year until 2030 in order to reach 100% coverage by 2030.