Forest 500 Annual Report 2023: A watershed year for action on deforestation

We are three years past the 2020 deadline that many organisations set themselves to halt deforestation, and just two years away from the UN’s deadline of 2025 for companies and financial institutions to eliminate commodity-driven deforestation, conversion and the associated human rights abuses - a step that is essential to meeting our global net-zero targets and averting catastrophic climate change.

The case for urgent action on deforestation and associated human rights has never been stronger. And companies and financial institutions still failing to take action are looking increasingly ill-prepared and at risk. 

201 (40%) of the companies and financial institutions with the most exposure to, and influence on tropical deforestation still haven’t set a single policy on deforestation.

For nine years, Global Canopy’s Forest 500 has tracked the policies and performance of the 350 most influential companies and 150 financial institutions linked to deforestation in their supply chains and investments. Every two years we re-run this data to ensure we have the most up to date companies and financial institutions included. Our data highlights those that are taking action and those that are ignoring the problem altogether.

The annual report for 2023 includes key findings and recommendations, as well as case studies of those who are taking steps towards ending deforestation.