Deforestation report: UK’s ‘unsustainable’ consumption putting ‘enormous pressure’ on world’s forests, MPs warn

The world’s forests – the lungs of the planet – are being put under “enormous pressure” by the UK’s appetite for commodities like soy, cocoa, palm oil, beef and leather, MPs have warned.

The intensity of the country’s consumption, when measured by its footprint per tonne of product consumed, is higher than that of China, according to the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) report.

This should “serve as a wake-up call to the government”, said EAC chair Philip Dunne, who added that the UK’s use is having an “unsustainable impact on the planet”.

The committee has now released a 66-page report on Britain’s contribution to tackling global deforestation, which is the clearing or cutting down of forests, as it made a series of recommendations.

It comes after ministers announced that four commodities – cattle products (excluding dairy), cocoa, palm oil and soy – will have to be certified as “sustainable” if they are to be sold into UK markets.

The government, which plans to gradually include more products over time, has not yet said when the legislation will be introduced.

And the committee said it is concerned that the phased approach and lack of a timeline does not reflect the necessity of tackling deforestation urgently.

The report said: “The failure to include commodities such as maize, rubber and coffee within this scope does not demonstrate the level of urgency required to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030.”

The EAC called on the government to address these gaps and strengthen the existing legislative framework so businesses are banned from trading or using commodities linked to deforestation.

The committee also said: “Forests host 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity, support the livelihoods of 1.6 billion people and provide vital ecosystem services to support local and global economies.

“Deforestation threatens irreplaceable biodiverse habitats and contributes 11% of global carbon emissions.”

It urged ministers to create a global footprint indicator so the public can see the UK’s deforestation impact and a target can be set to cut it.

The committee said there are concerns over how planned investments in nature and climate programmes – including £1.5bn earmarked for deforestation – will be spent and called for more clarity from ministers.

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‘Government needs to act now’

Alexandria Reid, from the non-governmental organisation Global Witness, said: “The findings are clear, the UK will not reach net zero while British banks continue to fuel, and profit from, rampant deforestation of our climate-critical forests overseas.

“The government will miss the global deadline to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030 unless it acts now.”

Clare Oxborrow, from Friends of the Earth, said: “The committee is right to highlight the many flaws in the government’s plans to curb deforestation.

“Not least, the failure to include all high-risk commodities as part of its proposed new deforestation law, as well as the fact that it will only apply to illegal logging, which is notoriously difficult to determine.”

The government’s response

A government spokesperson said: “The UK is leading the way globally with new legislation to tackle illegal deforestation to make sure we rid UK supply chains of products contributing to the destruction of these vital habitats.

“This legislation has already been introduced through the Environment Act and is just one of many measures to halt and reverse global forest loss.

“We are also investing in significant international programmes to restore forests, which have avoided over 410,000 hectares of deforestation to date alongside supporting new green finance streams.”