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Theme 4: Rights and governance

While there are multiple measures that can be effective at reducing ecosystem conversion and degradation, evidence suggests that establishing and expanding the coverage of protected areas is one effective strategy to prevent the conversion and degradation of forests and other land ecosystems and advance forest, sustainable land use, biodiversity, and climate goals. Multiple studies have found that lands designated as protected areas – such as a national parks, wilderness areas, or national monuments – consistently experience lower levels of deforestation and less greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, 16% of the world’s terrestrial ecosystems and inland waters lie within protected areas. 

While there are multiple measures that can be effective at reducing ecosystem conversion and degradation, evidence suggests that establishing and expanding the coverage of protected areas is one effective strategy to prevent the conversion and degradation of forests and other land ecosystems and advance forest, sustainable land use, biodiversity, and climate goals. Multiple studies have found that lands designated as protected areas – such as a national parks, wilderness areas, or national monuments – consistently experience lower levels of deforestation and less greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, 16% of the world’s terrestrial ecosystems and inland waters lie within protected areas. 

The world’s forests and other land ecosystems are under continuous and increasing pressure from the unsustainable expansion of agricultural production, as well as other extractive activities such as mining and logging. One effective way to safeguard these lands is to institute a moratorium on ecosystem conversions. For example, in 2006, a group of large soy traders agreed to avoid purchasing soybeans from areas of the Brazilian Amazon that were deforested after 2008. This was successful in preventing an estimated 18,000 km of deforestation in Brazil between 2006 and 2016, although roughly 4,100 km of deforestation was displaced to nearby forested countries. In 2018, Indonesia also issued a moratorium on new palm oil concessions and in 2019, made another nationwide moratorium on new concessions in primary forests and peatlands permanent, both of which contributed to declines in forest loss between 2018 and 2021. 

The world’s forests and other land ecosystems are under continuous and increasing pressure from the unsustainable expansion of agricultural production, as well as other extractive activities such as mining and logging. One effective way to safeguard these lands is to institute a moratorium on ecosystem conversions. For example, in 2006, a group of large soy traders agreed to avoid purchasing soybeans from areas of the Brazilian Amazon that were deforested after 2008. This was successful in preventing an estimated 18,000 km of deforestation in Brazil between 2006 and 2016, although roughly 4,100 km of deforestation was displaced to nearby forested countries. In 2018, Indonesia also issued a moratorium on new palm oil concessions and in 2019, made another nationwide moratorium on new concessions in primary forests and peatlands permanent, both of which contributed to declines in forest loss between 2018 and 2021. 

Natural and environmental crimes threaten the environment and undermine sustainable development, international security, and the rule of law. Such crimes can include illicit logging, mining, fishing, wildlife trade or land conversion, all of which can be financial drivers for criminal organizations and terrorism. Environmental crimes are costly, amounting to about USD 280 billion in criminal gains and costing governments USD 30 billion in lost tax revenue each year. Public and private institutions should implement Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer due-diligence regulatory frameworks to uncover and prevent unintended support of environmental crimes and activities.  
The Financial Action Task Force, an inter-governmental body, sets standards to prevent global money laundering and rates countries in terms of the effectiveness of their anti-money laundering systems. According to the Task Force’s 2022 assessment ratings, only 3% of countries have substantial levels of effectiveness to ensure that financial institutions are implementing preventative AML measures and reporting suspicious activities. No countries were shown to have high levels of effectiveness. Although the rating doesn’t specifically address natural resource infractions, countries that have financial institutions effectively applying AML measures are best placed to track environmental crimes. 

Natural and environmental crimes threaten the environment and undermine sustainable development, international security, and the rule of law. Such crimes can include illicit logging, mining, fishing, wildlife trade or land conversion, all of which can be financial drivers for criminal organizations and terrorism. Environmental crimes are costly, amounting to about USD 280 billion in criminal gains and costing governments USD 30 billion in lost tax revenue each year. Public and private institutions should implement Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer due-diligence regulatory frameworks to uncover and prevent unintended support of environmental crimes and activities.  
The Financial Action Task Force, an inter-governmental body, sets standards to prevent global money laundering and rates countries in terms of the effectiveness of their anti-money laundering systems. According to the Task Force’s 2022 assessment ratings, only 3% of countries have substantial levels of effectiveness to ensure that financial institutions are implementing preventative AML measures and reporting suspicious activities. No countries were shown to have high levels of effectiveness. Although the rating doesn’t specifically address natural resource infractions, countries that have financial institutions effectively applying AML measures are best placed to track environmental crimes. 

Much of the demand for the commodities that drive forest loss in the few countries that can deliver the majority of the world’s cost-effective, land based mitigation potential occurs in the world’s wealthiest countries. For example, China, the European Union (EU), India, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States collectively accounted for over 70% of deforestation emissions embodied in international trade flows on average between 2010 and 2014. To reduce this demand, some governments are beginning to adopt trade policies to facilitate more sustainable commodity consumption.  The EU, for example, recently adopted a regulation that requires companies to ensure that covered forest-risk commodities (soy, cattle, palm oil, cocoa, coffee, rubber and wood along with specified derivatives) are produced without deforesting or degrading forests before they are allowed to sell them on the EU market. Similar legislation has been proposed in the United States and passed in the UK, for which secondary legislation specifying commodity scope and due diligence requirements is under development. 

Much of the demand for the commodities that drive forest loss in the few countries that can deliver the majority of the world’s cost-effective, land based mitigation potential occurs in the world’s wealthiest countries. For example, China, the European Union (EU), India, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States collectively accounted for over 70% of deforestation emissions embodied in international trade flows on average between 2010 and 2014. To reduce this demand, some governments are beginning to adopt trade policies to facilitate more sustainable commodity consumption.  The EU, for example, recently adopted a regulation that requires companies to ensure that covered forest-risk commodities (soy, cattle, palm oil, cocoa, coffee, rubber and wood along with specified derivatives) are produced without deforesting or degrading forests before they are allowed to sell them on the EU market. Similar legislation has been proposed in the United States and passed in the UK, for which secondary legislation specifying commodity scope and due diligence requirements is under development. 

Government consultation with civil society organizations represents one mechanism for public participation in decision-making, as part of a broader effort toward empowering communities. The 2023 Democracy Report from Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) flagged that in 40 countries, governments are increasing their control over the existence of civil society organizations, and in 37 countries the repression of civil society organizations is increasing. This global indicator, sourced from V-Dem, tests whether policymakers consistently consult with civil society organizations that represent issues relevant to the policy at hand. It, therefore, represents a measure of the implementation of public participation – something that is very difficult to measure given the subjective nature of what makes participation effective or meaningful. Concerningly, the percentage of countries where policymakers consistently consult with civil society organizations has dropped over the past few years, from 26% in 2020 to 22% in 2022. The result is calculated based on countries where the response was “yes” rather than “sometimes” and therefore the low score doesn’t mean that the rest of countries never consulted, but rather that it is evaluated by country experts as inconsistent or insufficient.

Government consultation with civil society organizations represents one mechanism for public participation in decision-making, as part of a broader effort toward empowering communities. The 2023 Democracy Report from Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) flagged that in 40 countries, governments are increasing their control over the existence of civil society organizations, and in 37 countries the repression of civil society organizations is increasing. This global indicator, sourced from V-Dem, tests whether policymakers consistently consult with civil society organizations that represent issues relevant to the policy at hand. It, therefore, represents a measure of the implementation of public participation – something that is very difficult to measure given the subjective nature of what makes participation effective or meaningful. Concerningly, the percentage of countries where policymakers consistently consult with civil society organizations has dropped over the past few years, from 26% in 2020 to 22% in 2022. The result is calculated based on countries where the response was “yes” rather than “sometimes” and therefore the low score doesn’t mean that the rest of countries never consulted, but rather that it is evaluated by country experts as inconsistent or insufficient.

Civil society organizations offer a mechanism for public participation in decision-making, as part of a broader effort toward empowering communities. This global indicator from Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) assesses whether there is a diverse array of civil society organizations (not primarily state-sponsored) that members of the public can voluntarily participate in. This is relevant to understand the ability of individuals to seek out organizations through which to advocate for change. However, this does not mean that everyone does participate, nor does it give an indication of how effective or influential these organizations are in policymaking. In 2022, 83% of countries met the threshold of having many diverse civil society organizations. This is a slight increase from 2021, but a drop from 87% in 2020.  

Civil society organizations offer a mechanism for public participation in decision-making, as part of a broader effort toward empowering communities. This global indicator from Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) assesses whether there is a diverse array of civil society organizations (not primarily state-sponsored) that members of the public can voluntarily participate in. This is relevant to understand the ability of individuals to seek out organizations through which to advocate for change. However, this does not mean that everyone does participate, nor does it give an indication of how effective or influential these organizations are in policymaking. In 2022, 83% of countries met the threshold of having many diverse civil society organizations. This is a slight increase from 2021, but a drop from 87% in 2020.