Signal UK consumption linked to 30,656 hectares of tropical deforestation in 2021

Summary

The report finds that the UK has both a direct and an indirect role in global land use change. In 2021 the UK is estimated to have been responsible, through its consumption of commodities such as timber, cattle and crops, for the loss of around 30,656 hectares of tropical forest. Across the world, 420 million hectares of forest, more than the area of India, have been cleared for other land uses since 1990. The report ranks habitat loss and degradation among the main drivers of biodiversity loss. That loss affects the supply of raw materials such as food and timber and ecosystem functions such as water and air purification and pollination. The report adds that the UK also feels these effects through disruption to global supply chains.