Global Deforestation

Compiled by: Yan Vana

Deforestation, or forest clearance, is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then repurposed to non-forest use.

Up to 15 billion trees are now being cut down every year across the world, mostly to enable the production of more food for the planet’s growing human population.

Forests are vital for food, water and livelihoods. It is estimated that deforestation impacts 1.6 billion rural people worldwide, who rely on forests for their livelihoods. Most of these people already live in extreme poverty.

Globally, we deforest around ten million hectares of forest a year. That’s an area the size of Portugal, each and every year. Less than half of this deforestation is offset by replanting.

95 per cent of all deforestation occurs in the tropics. However, not all of it is to produce food and other products for local markets. 14 per cent of deforestation is driven by consumers in the world’s wealthiest countries, which import beef, vegetable oils, cocoa, coffee, and paper that has been produced on deforested land.^[1]

If current trends continue, by 2050 the world could lose a further 230 million hectares of forest.

Repurposing land for agricultural expansion leads to extensive deforestation, particularly for commodities like soy, palm oil, and cattle farming. Agricultural expansion is, in fact, the largest driver of tropical deforestation and ecosystem loss.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, 80 per cent of all global deforestation is directly linked to the repurposing of land for crop and livestock production,^[2] almost entirely for human consumption. This rampant destruction of forests contributes to biodiversity loss, while also intensifying the effects of climate change.

Environmental decline is made worse by the fact that so much crop and livestock production is subject to unsustainable agricultural practices. Some of these practices, such as monoculture farming, degrade soil fertility, increase erosion, and pollute waterways. This further compromises the health and resilience of the remaining forest ecosystems.^[3]

The following chart breaks down how, on average, deforested land is repurposed globally.

Global banks are profiting from deforestation through their backing of agribusiness. By bankrolling these agribusinesses, they are profiting from biodiversity loss and climate change.

According to a 2021 investigation by Global Witness, since the Paris Climate Agreement in December 2015, banks and asset managers based in the European Union, United Kingdom, United States, and China have made deals worth $157 billion with businesses accused of destroying forests in Brazil, Southeast Asia and Africa.^[4]

Global Witness estimates that these financial institutions have netted $1.74 billion in interest, dividends and fees from financing the parts of agribusiness groups that carry the highest deforestation risk – primarily soy, beef, palm oil, and pulp and paper.

Financial organisations that have repeatedly profited from these deals include JPMorgan, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Rabobank, and Bank of China. US banking giant JPMorgan alone has made deals worth an estimated $9.38 billion with firms accused of deforestation.

We currently use one third of the Earth’s entire land surface to produce food to sustain the human population. At the rate the human population is continuing to grow, by 2050 we will need twice as much food.^[5]

More than half the world’s tropical forests have been destroyed since the 1960s and these forests lost 10 percent more primary rainforest in 2022 than in 2021.^[6]

More than half the world’s land-based plants and animals, and three-quarters of all birds, live in and around forests.

[1] Our World in Data – Deforestation and Forest Loss (2021, revised Nov 2024)

[2] World Wildlife Fund Forest Pathways Report 2023

[3] World Wildlife Fund

[4] Global Witness investigation

[5] National Geographic

[6] Global Forest Watch – Study by Mikaela Weisse, Liz Goldman and Sarah Carter, published June 2023

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

The Message is the ground-breaking debut novel by Yan Vana, a thought-provoking and critically acclaimed book that will change the way you think about human overpopulation, its effects and consequences.