Commodity-Driven Deforestation
An estimated sixty percent of deforestation in the tropics is driven by the expansion of commercial agriculture, the majority of it in violation of producer country laws. The resulting commodities, such as palm oil, beef, leather, soy, rubber, cocoa and coffee, are often destined for international markets. The largest consumer markets for these exported commodities are China, the European Union, and the United States, none of which have laws requiring that goods entering their markets were produced legally, let alone in full respect of human rights and free from deforestation and natural ecosystem conversion. EIA investigates and exposes how unregulated commodity production and associated trade is systemically driving deforestation, violating the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and is often linked to violence against environmental defenders, and works to advance legal and policy reforms to clean up commodity supply chains.