The lack of regulation of imported goods to the UK helped destroy an area of global forest equivalent in size to Cardiff, Liverpool or Newcastle over the last year, new Global Witness analysis shows.
Of the approximately 13,500ha deforested in 2024, more than 6,150ha of destruction were linked to imports of goods - such as cattle products, soy, oil palm, cocoa, coffee and rubber - during the first six months of the new Labour government.
The new findings bring the UK’s total “deforestation footprint” linked to direct imports to more than 39,300ha – an area of land bigger than the UK’s New Forest – since the UK Environment Act was passed in November 2021.
The Act created a ban on the import of products grown on illegally deforested land, but this is yet to enter into force due to government delays.
So far, the Labour government has failed to act on the UK's contribution to deforestation, despite pledging to restore the country’s climate leadership and tackle what they called a “nature emergency” at home and abroad in their manifesto.
Commenting on the findings, Labour MP and Co-Chair of the APPG on Global Deforestation Anna Gelderd said:
"The UK has the power to be a champion for nature and human rights, standing with those fighting to protect their forests.
“Yet the revelation that our imports have contributed to deforestation on such a massive scale risks us falling behind. This is a stark reminder that we must lead the charge in stopping deforestation-linked imports by urgently introducing the long-overdue measures in the Environment Act and closing loopholes on traceability and human rights.”
Published today, the new analysis explores the deforestation footprint associated with UK imports of six “forest-risk” commodities - cattle products, soy, oil palm, cocoa, coffee and rubber - between November 2021 and December 2024.
The figures are all likely to be a significant underestimate of the impact of UK trade on the world’s forests as the analysis only looks at imports of these commodities in their raw form and does not include when they are embedded in products, like palm oil in shampoo or chocolate, for example.
Overall, the vast majority of the UK’s deforestation footprint is linked to cattle products imported from Brazil – where vast swathes of climate-critical ecosystems like the Amazon and Cerrado have been razed to make room for pasture.
A total of 12,856ha of deforestation was linked to direct imports of Brazilian cattle products alone in just over three years (November 2021 to December 2024). Soya beans from Brazil also contribute to its ranking as the top partner for deforestation exposure, linked to 2,494ha.
Other high-ranking commodities and countries within the same period include oil palm fruit from Papua New Guinea (6,727ha) and Indonesia (4,249ha), and cocoa beans from Côte d’Ivoire (4,875ha).
With the UK’s Environment Act in place, and the previous government announcing the proposed banned commodities at COP28 in December 2023, the Labour government now needs to issue the final technical rules – known as ‘secondary regulations’ – for the law to prevent the ongoing import of products driving deforestation to take effect.
However, both the Environment Act itself and the list of proposed commodities have been criticised for being too weak.
Last year, the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) recommended that the Environment Act be reopened to cover all deforestation – not just illegal deforestation – and provide stronger human rights protections from the outset.
Both coffee and rubber are also currently excluded from the government's proposed list of products, despite collectively making up around 9.4% of the country’s deforestation footprint.
Alexandria Reid, Global Witness Campaign Lead, said:
“The UK's ongoing contribution to global deforestation is a national embarrassment. The government cannot claim to be a climate leader while allowing deforestation-linked imports to continue to flood our markets. Every day of inaction undermines our global credibility and helps drive nature’s destruction.
“Labour must act fast and strengthen the proposed regulations, ensuring both legal and illegal deforestation are covered. Only then can we shut the door on dirty imports tainted with deforestation and human rights abuses, proving the UK is truly serious about green and ethical trade. With COP30 looming, the UK government must set the pace on global forest protection, not make excuses while climate-critical ecosystems like the Amazon burn.”
