Originally shared by Environmental Investigation Agency Who's responsible for deforestation? New Forest 500 bares all
- A new ranking by Global Canopy Programme paints a depressing picture of current efforts by those driving deforestation, but some good progress has been made, giving cause for optimism -
UK think tank Global Canopy Programme (GCP) has launched a first-of-its-kind platform that evaluates and ranks 500 organisations around the world which are responsible for the commodities that drive deforestation.
The study has uncovered a “depressing” picture of deforestation: Only seven companies scored top marks in implementing policies to protect forests and most governments are lagging behind, suggesting that the current global goal of halving forest loss by 2020 may just remain a pipedream.
The Forest 500 ranking is based on a study of 250 companies - with total annual revenue in excess of US$4.5 trillion – 150 investors and lenders, 50 countries and regions, and 50 other organisations.
Together, these 500 control pretty much the global supply chain of so-called ‘forest risk commodities’, including soya, palm oil, beef, leather, timber, pulp and paper.
More than US$100 billion of these goods are traded every year and they are found in more than half of packaged products on supermarkets’ shelves today.
“Overall we found a pretty depressing picture across all sectors, with some of those assessed, including all the hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds analysed, having no forest policies in place, despite their crucial influence over the future of our tropical forests,” GCP said.
Full report at
http://www.eco-business.com/news/whos-responsible-deforestation-new-forest-500-bares-all/#forests #deforestation #palmoil
Image: Peat forest in Sumatra, Indonesia, razed by fire to make way for oil palm plantation (c) Paul Hilton