Action on deforestation must address indirect sourcing 'blindspot'

Traders, food manufacturers, retailers and governments must take action to reduce the deforestation risks associated with indirect – and often unknown – sources of commodities, according to new research.

Oil palm fruits with workers in background

Case study 26 April 2022

Understanding soy deforestation risk in leather products

A group of luxury fashion brands asked Trase to identify hotspots of deforestation risk in their supply chains for leather – not from cattle farmed in high-risk areas, but from soy present in animal feed.

Insight 15 March 2022

Strengthening the EU regulation on deforestation-free products

Implementation of the draft regulation could be improved by using robust risk assessment to target action on areas threatened most by deforestation.

Insight 15 December 2021

Chocolate companies face deforestation risks from unknown cocoa supplies

A lack of transparency about deforestation in the cocoa supply chain is creating reputational and regulatory risks for commodity traders and chocolate manufacturers.

Soy processing facility in the Brazilian Cerrado

Insight 13 December 2021

Deforestation-risk green finance – more khaki than emerald

Trase assesses the pros and cons of recent moves into green finance by commodity traders.

Insight 8 December 2021

Moving beyond commitments : How to start eliminating deforestation from investor portfolios

Investors need to understand deforestation-risk exposure in their portfolios to inform effective engagement activities and deliver on COP26 pledges.

Explainer 18 November 2021

Trase enhances life cycle assessment with ‘commodity supply mix’

New research by Trase assists LCA practitioners by providing more regionally relevant data on the environmental impacts of agricultural commodities.

Insight 9 November 2021

Missing deforestation-risk products undermine EU’s due diligence proposal

Trase analysis of the EU’s draft due diligence regulation finds that the proposal fails to account for more than half of the bloc’s deforestation risk from imports of soy due to its exclusion of soy used in animal feed.

Deforestation on Brazilian soy plantation

Insight 27 October 2021

COP26 must commit to eliminating deforestation

World leaders attending the UN climate talks in Glasgow must commit to stopping commodity-driven deforestation if they are to prevent climate catastrophe.

Forest fires in Mato Grosso State, Brazil

Case study 18 October 2021

Storebrand Asset Management deforestation risk assessment

Trase worked with Storebrand Asset Management to demonstrate how investors can identify and assess deforestation risk in their portfolios to inform engagement and divestment activities.

Insight 14 September 2021

Trase highlights UK’s role in financing deforestation

UK financiers provided over £40 billion to companies at risk of causing deforestation in Brazil and Indonesia through their trade in beef, soy and palm oil, according to analysis by Trase Finance.

Insight 31 August 2021

Trase launches beef app to empower consumers in Brazil

Trase has launched a new smartphone app that informs supermarket customers in Brazil about the environmental and social performance of the meat products that they purchase.

Insight 5 July 2021

Exploring the investor types with most significant levels of deforestation risk exposure

New data on deforestation risk exposure builds the case for investors elevating deforestation in their risk management priorities.

Explainer 20 June 2021

High deforestation risk for beef from the Paraguayan Chaco

None of Paraguay’s beef exports in 2019 were covered by a zero-deforestation commitment, despite high deforestation risk in the Dry Chaco.

Explainer 20 June 2021

Soy deforestation risk in Paraguay continues despite decline

Countries importing soy produced in Paraguay’s Atlantic Forest biome are still exposed to illegal deforestation risk, despite a large fall in the rate of deforestation.

Insight 13 April 2021

Trase data highlights EU's role in deforestation

Trase research is an important part of a new WWF report into tropical deforestation associated with EU agricultural commodity imports.

Explainer 10 March 2021

Mapping cocoa exports from Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana

New Trase data reveals the companies which export cocoa from Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, and the countries which import it.

Discovery 9 March 2021

Coronavirus drives US beef imports from Amazon

Insight 23 February 2021

Indonesia's pulp exports linked to widespread fires on peatlands

Over 40% of Indonesia’s pulpwood is grown on drained peatlands, causing significant carbon emissions and health risks from catastrophic fires.

Insight 23 February 2021

Indonesia pulp sector’s progress on deforestation hangs in the balance

Despite declining rates of deforestation, past clearing and future supply risks pose ongoing challenges for the Indonesian pulp sector’s sustainability.

Explainer 16 February 2021

Bringing a new level of transparency to Indonesia's pulp exports

The Indonesian pulp sector has reduced deforestation, but remains dependent on carbon-intensive peatland plantations.

Insight 13 January 2021

How Brazil’s soy traders can identify climate risks

New research combining Trase data and climate change projections could help soy traders understand and manage their risk exposure.

Insight 24 November 2020

Creating a sustainable jurisdiction for agriculture and conservation

The case of the Produce, Conserve, Include (PCI) initiative in Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Insight 3 November 2020

Investors welcome ‘powerful tool’ to manage deforestation risk

Investors have a powerful new tool to identify hotspots of deforestation risk in their portfolios, improve how they measure ESG performance and create innovative green products.

Explainer 6 October 2020

How financial institutions are exposed to deforestation risks

Financial institutions can be directly or indirectly exposed to deforestation risks by their financing of forest risk commodity traders.

Explainer 6 October 2020

How data helps investors target deforestation risk management

New data on deforestation risk exposure helps investors identify the risk hotspots in their portfolios, enabling more focused risk management efforts.

Discovery 6 October 2020

Minerva shareholder data illustrates improved deforestation financing transparency

Insight 13 September 2020

Trase data can help tackle global extinction crisis

As shown on the BBC’s Extinction: The Facts, Trase is enabling targeted action that is making a real difference. Greater regulatory pressure and private sector leadership is now needed.

Insight 12 September 2020

Spotlight on Brazilian soy exports to France

High concentration of soy-related deforestation-risk in a handful of companies and municipalities offers an opportunity for a targeted approach by France and other European countries.

Satellite imagery of deforestation in the Chaco in Paraguay

Explainer 12 September 2020

Delivering transparency for sustainable agriculture in Paraguay

Paraguay’s Chaco region has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world. Trase’s research into the soy and beef supply chain is helping to bring much-needed transparency.

Insight 11 September 2020

How to protect Colombia's forests as global demand for coffee soars

Trase’s new Colombian coffee supply chain data could play a valuable role in managing future deforestation risks from coffee expansion posed by climate change and international demand.

Insight 6 September 2020

China’s imported deforestation risk from Brazilian beef imports

Through targeted engagement with a handful of traders and local governments, China could significantly reduce risks associated with its Brazilian beef imports.

Discovery 1 July 2020

Carbon emissions vary widely between producer regions

Discovery 1 July 2020

Minerva dominates market share and deforestation risks

Discovery 1 July 2020

Global meat consumption linked to Cerrado biodiversity risks

Discovery 1 July 2020

Argentina crushing capacity drives up imported soy deforestation risk in 2018

Insight 1 July 2020

A breakthrough in carbon footprinting for agricultural commodities

New study provides detailed breakdown of emissions sources for Brazilian soy exports, with relevance for other agricultural commodities as well as climate policy discussions.

Discovery 1 July 2020

Illegal deforestation and Brazilian soy: the case of Mato Grosso

Discovery 1 July 2020

Highly segregated flows of Argentinian soy cake, oil and bean exports

Discovery 1 July 2020

Live cattle have highest deforestation risk of Brazil's exported cattle products

Line chart depicting land use in the Amazon

Insight 1 July 2020

Indirect land-use change deforestation linked to soy threatens prospects for sustainable intensification in Brazil

Despite the success of the Amazon Soy Moratorium in reducing direct conversion of forest to soy, the crop is indirectly linked to deforestation via the displacement of cattle pasture.

Discovery 1 July 2020

Low vertical integration of dominate palm oil traders brings transparency challenge

Discovery 1 July 2020

Brazilian pork exports carry low direct deforestation risk

Insight 1 July 2020

New entrants challenge ABCD traders in Paraguayan soy export trade

The major "ABCD” multinational grain traders – ADM, Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus – dominated the Paraguayan export market in 2014, handling more than two thirds of the country’s soy exports that year (64%).

Discovery 1 July 2020

Shedding light on Indonesia’s opaque palm oil mills

Insight 1 July 2020

Lifting of import bans increases deforestation risk

US companies’ exposure to deforestation risk is set to increase steeply after the US government lifted restrictions on imports of fresh and frozen beef from Brazil in March 2020.

Discovery 1 July 2020

Slaughterhouse approvals could increase China’s beef deforestation risk exposure in Brazil

Discovery 1 July 2020

Labour rights and Paraguayan beef exports

Insight 29 March 2019

Carbon emissions from tropical deforestation largely driven by consumption in Europe and China

New study finds between 29% and 39% of all CO2 emissions related to tropical deforestation were linked to exported agricultural and forestry commodities.

Insight 4 March 2019

EU must embrace transparency to meet deforestation goals

The EU needs to improve transparency of its forest-risk commodity imports to help reduce its impacts on tropical deforestation.