{"id":408491,"date":"2026-04-20T16:15:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T16:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/408491\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T16:15:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T16:15:17","slug":"europes-incoming-forest-law-is-already-spurring-positive-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/408491\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe’s incoming forest law is already spurring positive change"},"content":{"rendered":"

April 13 – Most European consumers care about forests \u2013 they don\u2019t want to eat, wear and wash with products that contribute to forest loss. This is the root of the European Union\u2019s 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<\/a> each year. Yet the EUDR has faced pushback, resulting in dilution \u200band 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<\/a>, which \u200cit 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<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

Each year, Forest 500 shines a spotlight on the actions \u200bof 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, \u200bsoy and timber. All of them are in the EUDR\u2019s scope. The data shows that in 2025, 68 (14%) of the 500 companies explicitly cited the \u2060EUDR 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 \u200bchains by companies exposed to leather, a commodity that some have called to be excluded from the EUDR.<\/p>\n

Traceability is at the heart of the EUDR. Companies placing in-scope commodities and derived products onto the \u200bEU 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\u2019s 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 \u200bof private corporate decisions on tracking value chains.<\/p>\n

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 \u200band Flora Food Group. Both are downstream companies reliant on many third-party suppliers, proving that complexity is no excuse for inaction.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n

Yet the vast majority of companies fail to act with necessary speed. Just 29% of companies have \u200ccommitments for \u2060all 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. <\/p>\n

In this group are Swiss shoemaker Bata Corporation, Germany\u2019s largest shoemaker Deichmann Group and U.S. agricultural cooperative Land O\u2019Lakes, Inc, companies we highlight because of their size and exposure to a range of forest-risk commodities.<\/p>\n

Despite talk of \u200ban ESG reversal, only 14 companies reduced ambition \u200bon deforestation since the 2024 assessment. Among \u2060them is is one of the world\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

The EUDR is a landmark recognition that voluntary action is not enough, and robust regulation is \u200bneeded to keep forests standing for current and future generations. Watering down or further postponing the law will only weaken the EU\u2019s credibility. Leading \u200bcompanies have stood up for \u2060the EUDR, with giants like Olam International, Carrefour and Michelin showing vocal support. Civil society<\/a> in Brazil and Indonesia <\/a>also backs the law. <\/p>\n

Lawmakers face a choice: they can stand with public opinion and the scientific evidence, affirming and rewarding the investments made by far-sighted companies \u2013 or they can give in to narrow lobbying interests, to our collective detriment.<\/p>\n

Nature is critical for human life, economic activity and even national security, as \u2060a recent \u200bUK government report<\/a> recognised. The impact of deforestation is increasingly evident, as extreme weather leaves an alarming trail of destruction, \u200bcrop failures threaten food security and the growing insurance gap from climate repricing leaves people and businesses exposed to insecurity and financial ruin.<\/p>\n

These crises will multiply if deforestation continues unchecked; and the earlier action is taken to protect forests, the greater \u200bthe benefits. Leading companies have shown that the tools, data and know-how to tackle their part of this needless crisis now exist.<\/p>\n

Europe even has a law ready to go \u2013 what is it waiting for?<\/p>\n

Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. Ethical Corporation Magazine, a part of Reuters Professional, is owned by Thomson Reuters and operates independently of Reuters News.<\/p>\n

Purchase Licensing Rights<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

Niki Mardas is the executive director of Global Canopy, a not for profit pushing for transparency and accountability in how companies treat nature. He has spent more than 20 years focusing on deforestation and nature, collaborating with leaders in government, business and finance to create positive change\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"April 13 – Most European consumers care about forests \u2013 they don\u2019t want to eat, wear and wash…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[119245,246,61,60,119248,119244,118520,179626,119243,82,29265],"class_list":["post-408491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-destecmii","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-n2clm","tag-n2esg","tag-rsbideforestation","tag-rsbiesg-regulation","tag-rsbiindustry-insight","tag-science","tag-sustainable-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}