Global Canopy published its 2025 Forest 500 report, Companies Profit, Forests Fall: Everyone Pays the Price (September 2025). The report analyses the deforestation efforts of 500 of the most influential companies globally sourcing nine key commodities: beef, leather, soy, palm oil, timber, pulp and paper, cocoa, coffee and rubber.
Human Level’s Take:
- Forest loss drives climate change, biodiversity loss and human rights risks, while also fuelling economic costs such as rising commodity prices and reduced yields.
- Yet, Global Canopy finds that, out of 500 companies deemed to have the greatest exposure to deforestation risk, only 16 fully lead on deforestation with strong commitments across all commodities and meaningful implementation.
- Only 22% of companies show credible implementation for at least one commodity, 3% for all commodities, and 8% report over half of their volumes as deforestation-free. The “late majority” of 316 companies show partial progress, often focusing on high-profile commodities, while 168 laggards remain behind on both commitments and action.
- Human rights are also at stake. Deforestation is linked to land rights, labour rights, smallholder inclusion, FPIC, gender equality, and threats to defenders—yet only 1% of companies have comprehensive policies covering all high-risk commodities.
- The report points to actions companies can take no matter where they are on deforestation. Leading companies can increase deforestation and human rights commitments to maintain momentum. This includes setting ambitious targets, demonstrating progress and advocating for policies that protect forests and long-term business interests.
- The “late majority” can enhance implementation and transparency by strengthening policies, enhancing ambitions and investing in action.
- Companies just starting out can take urgent action to align with industry peers by putting in place even basic policies, undertaking deforestation risk assessments and putting in place traceability systems for high-risk commodities.
Some key takeaways:
- Deforestation has significant impacts on people and profits: 2024 was the tenth year in a row of record-breaking heat, leading to impacts like wildfires, storms, heatwaves, flooding and droughts. The report points out that protecting forests can help combat climate change: forests play a role in nutrient and water cycles and support biodiverse ecosystems, while deforestation releases carbon and accelerates land degradation and species extinction. This can also have substantial impacts on human rights by affecting lives, livelihoods, housing and entire communities. Forest 500 tracks six core human rights issues impacted by deforestation: customary rights to land, resources and territory, labour rights, smallholder inclusion, violence and threats against forest, land and human rights defenders, Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), and gender equality. There are also enormous costs for business, especially when it comes to commodity prices. For example, coffee and cocoa prices recently hit record highs due to extreme temperatures and low crop yields, and soy production in the Amazon is declining because of reduced rainfall and shortened growing seasons.
- Limited progress among companies: According to the report, only 16 of the 500 companies lead on deforestation by having strong commitments across all commodities with adequate implementation. Only 22% of companies show credible implementation for at least one commodity, 3% for all commodities, and 8% report over half of their volumes as deforestation-free. Another 316 companies make up the “late majority,” having made partial commitments and some progress on deforestation. For example, many companies only have commitments for the most high-profile commodities, ignoring commodities like beef that are high-emitting but lower on the public radar. One hundred and sixty-eight companies are lagging behind on commitments and progress, with 24 of these having made no public commitments on deforestation. The report also highlights the importance of addressing human rights risks in forest commodity supply chains, which can be closely tied to deforestation risks. Only seven companies (1%) have made a human rights policy commitment for all high-risk commodities on the six human rights issues tracked by the report. Twenty-nine companies (6%) have made commitments on all six human rights issues for at least one of their high-risk commodities. One-third have not published commitments on any of these human rights issues. Companies are more likely to make strong human rights commitments for palm oil, cocoa and soy, but none of the companies assessed for beef, leather or timber have made a human right commitment for all six human rights issues.
- The road ahead: As the world prepares for COP30 in Brazil in November and the implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation by the end of the year, 2025 is a key year for progress on deforestation. The report underscores that companies can advance action despite the challenging operating context, including setbacks posed by U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, rollbacks on climate and nature protections in the U.S. and elsewhere, and proposals to limit EU sustainability legislation. Companies will need to double down on their deforestation commitments and related human rights commitments to keep the momentum going. Leading companies can act by setting a high level of ambition, showing their progress and advocating for regulations that will protect forests and business interests. The “late majority” will need to set more ambitious commitments, improve implementation and increase transparency. The laggards, which face the highest compliance and litigation risks, will need to take urgent steps to come into line with their peers, setting policies and taking action, including risk assessments and traceability mechanisms for high-risk commodities.
