You’ll soon have a chance to shape UK law on deforestation.
This autumn the UK will open a consultation on legislation to end the use of commodities grown on illegally deforested land. This will apply to commodities such as beef, cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil and rubber.
Robust legislation is good news for forests and for forest people around the world. But we must ensure the regulation is as strong as possible and that it will effectively slash the UK’s contribution to deforestation.
The NGO Forest Coalition will be sharing the consultation when it is launched, alongside info and guidance on how to have your say.
Deforestation for industrial agriculture is all too often linked to human rights abuses. Around the world, people whose livelihoods depend on forests are being displaced or forcibly evicted. Environmental defenders are threatened and sometimes killed.
Regulation of supply chains is urgently needed and now is the time to push for ambition.
In June this year the government announced its approach. In Northern Ireland, the EU Deforestation Regulation will apply from 30 December 2026, while in Great Britain, regulations under Schedule 17 of the Environment Act will be laid in Parliament in 2027. The UK Timber Regulation will continue to apply in Great Britain and will be updated.
The government says they intend to move towards a deforestation-free standard. This consultation, expected any week now, is an opportunity for people to shape the legislation and make that intention a reality.
Smallholder producers of coffee, cocoa, palm oil and other products will be able to contribute, as well as civil society organisations around the world. It is also a crucial opportunity for members of the public to push for strong rules with no loopholes.
At the moment, UK consumers are unwittingly buying products grown on deforested land, despite their overwhelming support for ending global deforestation. The UK’s average deforestation exposure from agricultural commodities imported directly into the country is 10,800 hectares a year. A poll in 2025 found 76% of Britons back the UK’s commitment to end deforestation by 2030.
Last week the president of an association of soy producers in Brazil’s Cerrado, Francisca Paz, called on the UK government “to hold companies which cause environmental damage and human rights abuses to account.”
The NGO Forest Coalition recommends that the forest risk commodity regulations and UK Timber Regulation should include in the definition of illegal deforestation, laws covering human rights reflected in international law, Indigenous Peoples rights, including the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent, labour rights, modern slavery, anti-corruption, and wider environmental laws.
The NGO Forest Coalition strongly supports the laying of secondary regulations to operationalise Schedule 17 of the Environment Act and to strengthen the UK Timber Regulation (UKTR).
We also call on the government to start work now on primary legislation to move towards a deforestation-free standard, and to introduce forest-risk commodity due diligence requirements for financial actors.
This is our chance to act and inform the government’s legislation.
Photo credit: Dhana Kencana 2020