Global Forest Vision 2025 outlines urgent actions to protect forests, stop deforestation-linked trade

About Global Forest Vision 2025

• Released by the Forest Declaration Assessment with support from the UNDP, Climate Land Use Alliance, and other partners.
• Objective: Provide a roadmap for governments to reverse forest loss, protect biodiversity, and align trade policies with environmental goals.
• Timeline: Aims to guide decisions before COP30 in November 2025 to ensure progress toward the 2030 zero-deforestation target.

Key Findings and Concerns Raised by the Report

• Deforestation crisis: Despite commitments from 140 governments, 6.37 million hectares of forests were lost in 2023.
  • Main drivers: Demand for palm oil, soy, beef, and timber, leading to large-scale deforestation in the Amazon, Southeast Asia, and Africa.
• Deforestation and Global Trade: Deforestation-linked products continue to enter global markets due to loopholes in trade policies.
  • Some economies are banning such products, but enforcement remains a major challenge.
• Amazon deforestation: 80% caused by cattle ranching, destroying habitats of jaguars, otters, and rare trees.
  • Over 800 million trees lost (2017-2022)due to the Brazilian beef industry to meet global demand.
• Palm oil expansion: Indonesia and Malaysia face biodiversity threats, pushing orangutans and Sumatran tigers toward extinction.
• Need for action: The 2030 Global Forest Vision report calls for immediate policy changes to halt deforestation.
  

Global Actions and Challenges

• EU Deforestation Regulation (2026): Bans deforestation-linked imports, requiring companies to prove products are forest-safe.
• U.S. tightening trade rules against illegal logging.
  • China and India are lagging in implementing similar regulations.
• Challenges for small farmers: Lack of technology & resources to prove deforestation-free products.
• Economic concerns: Brazil, Indonesia, and Africa worry about economic impacts of stricter regulations.

Need for Action to Protect Forests: Recommendations

• Stronger Trade Policies: Governments must close trade loopholes to prevent companies from shifting deforestation-linked products to markets with weaker regulations.
  • China, India, and other major economies should adopt deforestation-free trade laws.
• Support for Farmers and  Local Economies: Provide financial & technical aid to small farmers to ensure deforestation-free supply chains.
  • Global Cooperation and Monitoring: Strengthen international cooperation for effective enforcement of trade policies.
    Expand monitoring systems to track deforestation-linked products globally.
• Unified action: The Global Forest Vision 2025 urges urgent and unified global action to halt deforestation, protect biodiversity, and align economic policies with environmental sustainability.