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.