What if you found out that just four commodities—commodities so pervasive in modern life that we encounter them daily—are responsible for more than half of the world’s tropical deforestation? What if you learned that many of the other commonly cited causes of deforestation, such as cocoa, sugar, and coffee, are now only marginal parts of the global problem?
Surprisingly, all of this is true. Just four commodities—beef, soy, palm oil, and wood products—drive the majority of tropical deforestation.
Why does deforestation matter? Forests—especially tropical forests—store enormous amounts of carbon. When forests are destroyed, that carbon is released to the atmosphere, accelerating global warming. Deforestation accounts for around 10% of total heat-trapping emissions—roughly the same as the yearly emissions from 600 million cars.
In addition to storing carbon, forests provide important habitat for a long list of endangered species—and they offer many other benefits, such as clean water, forest products, and livelihoods for indigenous communities.
With large areas of cheap land, relatively low labor costs, and a year-round growing season, the tropics have become a favored location for large-scale industrial commodity production. Eliminating emissions from commodity-driven tropical deforestation can play a huge role in reducing climate change—and we can do itin the near future.
Solutions
Because these commodities are in so many widely used consumer products, changing the way they are produced could have huge benefits for the climate, forests, and people around the world. And this change is possible—there are strategies to produce beef, soy, palm oil, and wood products in ways that allow the world’s forests to thrive.
Already innovative governments and companies have begun taking real steps toward protecting forests from destruction. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell by 70% from 2005 to 2014, largely thanks to temporary agreements by processors and exporters to stop buying cattle or soy linked to deforestation in the region. Some companies have made commitments to ensure that future sourcing of their commodities (most often palm oil) will be free from deforestation.
Yet these temporary and partial measures are not enough. As deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has decreased, we must stem the tide of deforestation in other ecosystems and other countries. Major companies that operate in forested regions, or source products from them, must commit to ending deforestation for all their operations. When companies make these commitments—and follow through on them—they finally begin to show that destroying forests, reducing habitat, and contributing to global warming can no longer be business as usual.
