UK consumption is having an “unsustainable” impact on the world, and contributing particularly highly to deforestation, a report by MPs has found.
Products such as soya, cocoa, palm oil, beef and leather may be products of deforestation, and the environmental audit committee has found that the UK’s deforestation footprint per tonne of product consumed is higher than that of other countries including China, calling it “unsustainable”. A deforestation footprint is similar to a carbon footprint. It signifies how much deforestation occurs per tonne of product consumed. Scientists have worked out the deforestation footprints of various countries by analysing trade patterns for goods which are linked to high levels of forest destruction.
The government recently announced that the above products produced by illegal deforestation would be banned from the supply chain. But this only applies to a small part of the problem, because much deforestation is legal in the countries in which it occurs.
The report, released on Thursday, quotes Client Earth saying the ban creates “perverse incentives” for export countries to remove laws that protect forests, so the deforestation becomes legal and as a result the import of associated products to the UK is not banned.
The legislation, announced in December, has not yet passed through parliament. The UK ban has been criticised for not including popular commodities such as coffee.
MPs on the environmental audit committee are calling in the report for ministers to develop a target to reduce the UK’s impact on global deforestation as well as a Global Footprint Indicator to demonstrate this impact to the public. The report highlights that forests host 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity, support the livelihoods of 1.6 billion people and provide vital ecosystem services to support local and global economies.
Deforestation contributes 11% of global carbon emissions. A study by the RSPB and WWF found that UK imports of just seven forest-risk commodities – soya, cocoa, palm oil, beef and leather, paper, rubber and timber – accounted for a land footprint of 88% of the size of the UK each year. In the same study, research showed that 40% of the UK’s overseas land footprint was in countries at high risk of deforestation, weak governance arrangements and poor labour standards.
The report also asks the government to bring in legislation to ensure all forest-risk goods bought by public bodies are certified as sustainable and not driving deforestation in sensitive areas. This would ensure that the UK government is not itself buying goods that are linked to unsustainable deforestation, and set an example for other industries. It has asked for the UK timber regulations to ensure that all imported timber is sustainably harvested, rather than just preventing illegally harvested timber from entering the country.
MPs expressed alarm at the risks faced by the Indigenous people who protect many at-risk forests across the globe. Their voices are often ignored and they are disenfranchised from their land, frequently expelled from their ancient territories. The committee heard from Global Witness that one person is killed every other day defending land and the environment. The report says: “Indigenous peoples are protectors of the world’s forests and can possess detailed knowledge on biodiversity and ecosystem trends. It is therefore critical that they are facilitated to participate fully in negotiations to address deforestation activity.”
The chair of the committee, Philip Dunne MP, said: “UK consumption is having an unsustainable impact on the planet at the current rate. UK markets must not be flooded with products that threaten the world’s forests, the people whose livelihoods rely on them and the precious ecosystems that call them home. Yet despite the recent commitment before and at Cop28 to invest more in reforestation measures and the Amazon Fund to help halt the speed of global deforestation, the UK needs to take tangible steps to turn the dial at home.
“The government’s ambition and stated commitment at Cop26 to halt deforestation by 2030 was very welcome, but it is not on track now. Its legislation for a regime to require certain products to be certified as ‘sustainable’ before they can be sold in UK markets was welcome, but the implementing legislation has still not come forward. There is little sense of urgency about getting a rapid grip on the problem of deforestation, which needs to match the rhetoric.
“Countries all around the world contribute to deforestation, and the international community of course needs to do much more to tackle deforestation. Yet on some measures the intensity of UK consumption of forest-risk commodities is higher than that of China. This should serve as a wake-up call to the government. To demonstrate genuine global leadership in this critical area, the UK must demonstrate domestic policy progress, and embed environmental and biodiversity protections in future trade deals.”
A Government spokesperson said: “The UK is leading the way globally with new legislation to tackle illegal deforestation to make sure with rid UK supply chains of products contributing to the destruction of these vital habitats.
“This legislation has already been introduced through the Environment Act and is just one of many measures to halt and reverse global forest loss.
“We are also investing in significant international programmes to restore forests, which have avoided over 410,000 hectares of deforestation to date alongside supporting new green finance streams.”
