April 13 – Most European consumers care about forests – they don’t want to eat, wear and wash with products that contribute to forest loss. This is the root of the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which takes aim at the links between EU imports and global deforestation, estimated to affect an area almost the size of Rome each year. Yet the EUDR has faced pushback, resulting in dilution and delays, with implementation postponed to the end of 2026.This is a critical moment for the law. The Commission has been tasked with a simplification review, which it must report on by the end of April. As they deliberate next steps, EU lawmakers would do well to consider new evidence from Forest 500, showing that companies have already responded tangibly to the prospect of legislation. Even ahead of implementation, the EUDR has succeeded in steering business expectations, galvanising investments and driving supply chain action by some of the most influential companies in the deforestation economy.
Each year, Forest 500 shines a spotlight on the actions of the 500 companies with the greatest influence on commodity-driven deforestation through their producing and sourcing of nine forest-risk commodities: beef, cocoa, coffee, leather, palm oil, pulp and paper, rubber, soy and timber. All of them are in the EUDR’s scope. The data shows that in 2025, 68 (14%) of the 500 companies explicitly cited the EUDR in public documents related to action on tackling deforestation. In particular, the data reveals an increase in traceability mechanisms over eight of the nine commodities. This includes progress in tracking supply chains by companies exposed to leather, a commodity that some have called to be excluded from the EUDR.
Traceability is at the heart of the EUDR. Companies placing in-scope commodities and derived products onto the EU market, or exporting from it, need to trace them to the point of production and demonstrate that they are deforestation-free and produced legally. Among 45 companies that reference the EUDR when reporting action taken on traceability in 2025 are U.S.-based restaurant chain Domino’s Pizza, Italian confectionary company Ferrero and Brazilian meat-packer Frigol. As the data assessment relies solely on public disclosures by companies, it is likely that this is just the tip of a bigger iceberg of private corporate decisions on tracking value chains.
Progress made in 2025 by 19 leading companies across sectors and geographies demonstrates that commodity-driven deforestation is a solvable crisis. Among the leaders are Nestle and Flora Food Group. Both are downstream companies reliant on many third-party suppliers, proving that complexity is no excuse for inaction.
Michelin is one of several leading companies who have been vocal in their support for the EUDR. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
Yet the vast majority of companies fail to act with necessary speed. Just 29% of companies have commitments for all their commodities. More than two-thirds (313) of the cohort have signalled some intent to tackle deforestation, but have made limited progress. A further 168 (33%) are laggards and have no deforestation or ecosystem conversion commitments for any commodity. Among them are 24 companies that have failed to publish a deforestation commitment in the 12 years since 2014, when the global community signalled the critical role of business and finance in tackling this problem, and Forest 500 began to keep score.
In this group are Swiss shoemaker Bata Corporation, Germany’s largest shoemaker Deichmann Group and U.S. agricultural cooperative Land O’Lakes, Inc, companies we highlight because of their size and exposure to a range of forest-risk commodities.
Despite talk of an ESG reversal, only 14 companies reduced ambition on deforestation since the 2024 assessment. Among them is is one of the world’s biggest sportswear companies, Nike, which removed pulp and paper from its 2025 sustainability reporting, metric and ambitions, rolling back a commitment made in 2024 to protect priority forests by only sourcing FSC-certified packaging.
The EUDR is a landmark recognition that voluntary action is not enough, and robust regulation is needed to keep forests standing for current and future generations. Watering down or further postponing the law will only weaken the EU’s credibility. Leading companies have stood up for the EUDR, with giants like Olam International, Carrefour and Michelin showing vocal support. Civil society in Brazil and Indonesia also backs the law.
Lawmakers face a choice: they can stand with public opinion and the scientific evidence, affirming and rewarding the investments made by far-sighted companies – or they can give in to narrow lobbying interests, to our collective detriment.
Nature is critical for human life, economic activity and even national security, as a recent UK government report recognised. The impact of deforestation is increasingly evident, as extreme weather leaves an alarming trail of destruction, crop failures threaten food security and the growing insurance gap from climate repricing leaves people and businesses exposed to insecurity and financial ruin.
These crises will multiply if deforestation continues unchecked; and the earlier action is taken to protect forests, the greater the benefits. Leading companies have shown that the tools, data and know-how to tackle their part of this needless crisis now exist.
Europe even has a law ready to go – what is it waiting for?
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