Deforestation is a driver of climate change and contributes to loss of biodiversity. The Fairtrade Standards have built in forest protection requirements – ones that meet or go beyond what is required in European Union regulations. Even more than that, Fairtrade offers support and financial benefits to producers – and works to tackle root causes of deforestation such as poverty – so they can play their part to farm sustainably and conserve forests.
Healthy forests are not just good for the planet as a whole, through their important role in carbon sequestration and reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Forests also contribute to soil and water protection, support diverse animal and plant life, and serve as home to indigenous populations. Forests are essential to the livelihoods of more than 1.6 billion people around the world.
Poverty and a lack of decent living conditions lead people to turn to the forest to meet their basic needs, such as using wood for fuel, or clearing land to grow crops to eat or sell. Weak land and forest governance also play a role.
The activities that cause most deforestation are the timber industry, followed by agriculture, wildfires, and other activities such as mining, or replacement with commodities like soy or palm production.
Fairtrade is dedicated to protecting forests through fundamental elements such as our comprehensive Standards, financial benefits for producers, essential data, tailored services and support, and advocacy on what it takes to prevent deforestation sustainably and fairly.
Our approach to preventing deforestation and protecting forests
Fairer for farmers
Fairtrade Standards require distribution of the responsibility of tackling deforestation more equitably across all stakeholders in the supply chain. Our partnership with Satelligence supports producers to collect, understand, and own their own geolocation and deforestation risk data, which they can then share with their trade partners. This means they have ongoing risk assessments and can take action accordingly.
High quality data and monitoring
Data and information are key to identifying the risk of deforestation, and enabling trade partners to trace products back to where they were grown. This is an increasingly important element of Fairtrade supply chains, not just related to forest protection but other due diligence needs as well. Fairtrade supports producers with essential guidance on the data and formats required by the EUDR.
Robust and aligned Standards
Fairtrade Standards for cocoa and coffee include geolocation mapping, deforestation monitoring, risk assessments, mitigation plans, and support for producers to mitigate deforestation risks. Audits by our third-party certifier, FLOCERT, mean an additional layer of verification.
Tackling root causes
Fairtrade prices support better incomes, and Fairtrade Premium can be invested by producer organisations in forest protection, such as switching to different crop varieties, or making their own organic fertiliser, improving their output and livelihoods. Fairtrade programmes contribute to key enablers of forest protection by smallholder farmers, such as climate adaptation and agroforestry.
Raising our voices together
Farmers know the benefits of forests, but don’t always have the resources to strengthen conservation while also maintaining their own livelihoods in the face of low prices, climate change and other challenges. We advocate for more support and resources for producers, so they do not bear the burden of forest protection or regulation compliance alone.
How Fairtrade supports compliance with the European Union Deforestation Regulation
No certification can take the place of companies’ own due diligence – that’s clearly stated in the EUDR. But Fairtrade has resources and expertise to help producers and their trade partners along the pathway to EUDR compliance.
Fairtrade can support companies with four main European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) due diligence obligations:
Collecting geolocation data Fairtrade producer networks offer essential support to coffee and cocoa producer organisations so data are high quality and in the right format.
Collecting deforestation monitoring data
Fairtrade coffee and cocoa producers can use the satellite monitoring platform Satelligence free of charge thanks to our partnership. Producer organisations can share their risk reports with their trade partners.
Conducting risk assessments Companies have access to the Fairtrade Risk Map to support their risk assessments.
Implementing risk mitigation measures Sourcing Fairtrade products can contribute to risk mitigation by addressing the root causes of risks through higher prices and producer support projects, as well as through risk mitigation requirements in the Fairtrade Standards.
Benefits of Fairtrade:
The Fairtrade Standards align with requirements in the EUDR, including a cut-off date that exceeds the EUDR requirement, requiring geolocation data, and risk assessments and mitigation requirements.
Fairtrade Standards also require trade partners to support producers with their risk mitigation actions, so that farmers aren’t carrying the burden alone.
The three regional Fairtrade producer networks – in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and the Asia Pacific region – are providing extensive support to producers with their data collection processes.
Fairtrade requires physical segregation of Fairtrade coffee and cocoa from farm to point of export, if a producer organisation also sells non-Fairtrade products. This supports companies’ due diligence for EU destination supply chains.
Fairtrade projects and programmes can contribute to deforestation risk mitigation measures, by addressing issues including living incomes, climate change adaptation, and agroforestry systems.
Additional resources
Tools:
Fairtrade risk map - insights on human rights and environmental risks of global commodities
Fairtrade impact map - information on Fairtrade projects and studies, plus country-specific data on Fairtrade producers and sales
