Deforestation and forest degradation, driven primarily by agricultural expansion for commodities like cattle, wood, palm oil, soy, cocoa, and coffee, are accelerating climate change and biodiversity loss.
As the global population grows, the demand for agricultural land is expected to rise, further pressuring forests, while changing climate patterns will impact food production.
To effectively comply with this regulation, businesses must underscore the importance of data verification to trace the origin of their products.
Deforestation is a pressing global issue, with agriculture being a primary driver. Data shows that by just seven agricultural commodities —cattle, oil palm, soy, cocoa, rubber, coffee and wood— accounted for 26% of global tree cover loss from 2001 to 2015. These agricultural commodities replaced 71.9 million hectares of forest during that period, an area of land more than twice the size of Germany (Source: WRI, 2021).
This environmental concern is driving the EU to enforce the EU Deforestation-free Regulation (EUDR), which will be implemented in December 2024. The regulation aims to mitigate the environmental impact of the top deforestation-contributing commodities —cattle, oil palm, soy, cocoa, rubber, coffee, and wood— and their derived products. The EUDR is expected to drive positive change across global supply chains, requiring businesses to ensure their products that are imported to the EU are free of deforestation or do not come from deforested land after December 31, 2020. To comply with the regulation, businesses must meticulously trace their products' origins, starti