- The “Forest 500 Report 2025” by Global Canopy reveals that only 3% of major companies with influence over forest-risk commodities are taking adequate action on deforestation, with beef identified as the biggest driver
- The assessment identified 24 “persistent laggards” that have never made any deforestation commitments despite a decade of evaluation, while some companies like meatpacking giant JBS are backtracking on previous pledges.
- Only 9% of companies promise zero tolerance for violence against forest defenders, despite more than 2,000 people being killed while protecting land or environment since 2012, highlighting the gap between environmental and human rights commitments.
- The European Union Deforestation Regulation taking effect at the end of 2025 will require companies to prove their products aren’t linked to deforestation before selling in EU markets, potentially driving meaningful corporate action ahead of the COP30 climate conference in Brazil in November.
Many everyday items could be connected to deforestation, from your morning coffee to chocolate snacks, leather shoes and wooden furniture. Only 3% of major companies are taking action to stop forest destruction, according to a new report from NGO Global Canopy.
The “Forest 500 Report 2025” examined 500 companies with the most influence over products most linked to deforestation: beef, leather, palm oil, soy, timber, paper, and newly added cocoa, coffee and rubber. This year’s report expanded beyond rainforests to cover all forest types.
“It’s disappointing to see this lack of action from those with the most power to stop deforestation,” Emma Thomson from the Forest 500 and tracking lead at Global Canopy told Mongabay. “It is unacceptable that so many companies are still doing nothing.”
The report identified 24 “persistent laggards,” companies that have never made any deforestation commitments despite being evaluated for more than 10 years. These include major U.S. businesses like Ashley Furniture Industries, beef trader Parker-Migliorini International, and Land O’Lakes (a “powerbroker” for palm oil, soy and paper packaging). Other significant offenders include the world’s largest pork producer, WH Group (owner of Smithfield Foods), China State Construction Engineering Corp., and Bright Food Group.
Some companies are backtracking and retreating from previously announced targets. The world’s largest meatpacker, Brazil-based JBS, which in 2021 became the first in its industry to commit to net-zero emissions by 2040 and ending illegal Amazon deforestation in its supply chain by 2025, has recently backtracked. “It was never a promise that JBS was going to make this happen,” Jason Weller, JBS’s global chief sustainability officer, told Reuters.
Beef remains the biggest driver of global deforestation, yet only 37% of beef-related companies have made any promises to address this issue, the report states. Cattle ranching causes forest clearing directly through cutting trees to create pasture, and indirectly when land is used to grow feed crops like soy.
By contrast, companies are most likely to have nondeforestation policies for palm oil (76%), which appears in about half of all packaged supermarket products, according to the Global Canopy assessment.
Sixteen companies, including Nestlé, Unilever and Mars, report comprehensive forest protection policies that cover all their supply chains. L’Oréal has established a forest policy that requires traceability for all forest-based ingredients, including palm oil derivatives and wood-based packaging. IKEA says it’s working toward using only Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified or recycled wood across all products.
The Forest 500 assessment is based on publicly available information published by companies themselves, making it primarily a measure of transparency rather than a comprehensive evaluation of on-the-ground impacts. This approach means companies could be taking actions not reflected in their public disclosures, while others might have policies that look good on paper but fail in implementation. The report acknowledges the limitations of self-reported data, though it increasingly rewards verified progress through independent third-party verification. Notably, half of a company’s total score is now determined by the information reported on the implementation of their commitments.
According to the report’s economic analysis, ignoring deforestation will cost businesses severely. Research predicts agribusinesses could lose up to 26% of their value by 2030 if current deforestation trends continue. This financial risk is already materializing through climate-related disasters. Coffee and cocoa prices have increased due to harvest failures in multiple regions, while soy farmers in the Amazon are seeing yields decline as deforestation disrupts rainfall patterns and shortens growing seasons.
The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) will take effect at the end of 2025, requiring companies to prove their products aren’t linked to deforestation before selling in EU markets. “Companies know they need to act now to set up the right processes and reporting systems,” Thomson said, adding that some businesses are already demonstrating this is possible or even exceeding what the regulation requires.
The report notes a troubling gap between environmental and human rights commitments. Only 9% of companies promise zero tolerance for violence against forest defenders, despite more than 2,000 people being killed while protecting land or the environment since 2012. Less than a quarter of companies publicly commit to respecting the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities, and just 4% showed evidence of implementing all six human rights measures assessed.
“If we are to keep the forests standing, we must recognise that this relies upon the protection of those who call the forest home. Addressing the escalating climate emergency and upholding human rights must go hand in hand,” Laura Furones, senior adviser to the land and environmental defenders’ campaign at the NGO Global Witness, said in a statement.
The report comes ahead of the COP30 climate conference in Belém, Brazil, this November, where forests will be a central focus. Thomson called for the conference to recapture the energy seen at COP26 in Glasgow, where nearly every nation promised to stop deforestation by 2030. “We need leaders to admit they’re missing their targets rather than quietly dropping their commitments,” she said. “They need to acknowledge they didn’t meet deadlines, set new ambitious goals, and work together better.”
Banner image of a young Bornean orangutan. Image by Rhett A. Butler / Mongabay.
Liz Kimbrough is a staff writer for Mongabay and holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Tulane University, where she studied the microbiomes of trees. View more of her reporting here.
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Citation:
Leite‐Filho, A. T., Soares‐Filho, B. S., & De Oliveira, U. (2024). Climate risks to soy‐maize double‐cropping due to Amazon deforestation. International Journal of Climatology, 44(4), 1245-1261. doi:10.1002/joc.8381
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