Exploring how commodity traders’ strategies can influence the forest conservation effects of the proposed EU regulation on deforestation-free products

The EU consumes significant amounts of products made from agricultural commodities, such as cocoa, palm oil, and soy, and the related agricultural expansion of these commodities causes vast forest loss in countries of production in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Various trading companies operate supply chains across the globe and move the products to Europe for our consumption, making them important actors in controlling forest loss linked to agricultural products. In the coming years, new EU regulations will set increased obligations for traders in order to reduce EU market-driven forest loss. However, it is not sure how traders will react to the new regulations and how their decisions could influence the impact of the EU regulation to limit EU market-driven deforestation.

Based on interviews with cocoa, palm oil, and soy traders, as well as supply chain specialists like consultants and NGOs, this policy brief investigates the strategies that traders could engage in in response to the European Commission’s proposal for an EU Regulation to minimise EU market-driven forest loss.

This work was carried out within the “New Ways for Forest Governance” (NewGo!) project of the European Forest Institute’s Governance Programme funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL).

Citation

O’Brien, L., Cramm, M., Foster, M., Buchholz, F., Wunder, S. and Tegegne, Y.T. 2022. Exploring how commodity traders’ strategies can influence the forest conservation effects of the proposed EU regulation on deforestation-free products. European Forest Institute.  https://doi.org/10.36333/rs3