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Dr Carolina Maciel, Research Fellow UK Trade Policy Observatory, and Dr Anthony Alexander, Associate Professor of Operations Management, Department of Management

Demand for everyday products such as soy, cocoa and beef in wealthy importing countries is responsible for two-thirds of export-driven deforestation in developing nations. Governments and trade blocs– including the UK and EU – have introduced new legislation on deforestation since 2021, when 144 countries pledged at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) to end the practice by 2030.

The new EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is the most ambitious law of its kind in the world, aiming to track the origin of every ‘forest-risk commodity’. The UK’s version, enabled by the 2021 Environment Act, demands due diligence from companies on illegal activities in supply chains but is awaiting secondary legislation for the law to be enacted. Even as some businesses are adapting to these new reporting requirements, a new report led by Dr Anthony Alexander, Associate Professor of Operations Management, finds that governments currently lack sufficient capability and data to monitor and enforce them.

Between the more regulatory EU and deregulatory US, how should the UK position its policy towards regulating trade in these products? Hosted by Lord Iain McNicol, Dr Alexander addressed a gathering of sustainability, data and supply chain experts assembled by the Rewired Earth Constellation for the launch of the report at the UK Parliament’s House of Lords on Wednesday 19 March. There he highlighted the need for better dialogue and coordination to ensure effective regulation and potential opportunities for businesses. The new data systems needed for effective due diligence in global supply chains, he emphasised, could be a source of value rather than a mere cost for business who may otherwise resist such policies. Improving data use and embracing new scientific ways of verifying product origins could also help to improve environmental impact of global trade in cost effective or even value creating ways.

Discussing the issues, participants acknowledged challenges ahead, from developing the protocols, to establishing reliable and trustworthy sustainable supply chain data in a highly complex regulatory landscape, but there was cause for hope. Experts from across the public, private and third sectors highlighted the possibility and the need to reframe compliance as a benefit rather than a burden for business.

This work was supported by the Research England Knowledge Exchange and Impact Fellowship (KEIF) and the Sussex Sustainabilty Research Programme (SSRP).

Further information: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=tacklingdeforestationreport-mar2025.pdf&site=18

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