Position on Deforestation and Forest Degradation

Forests play a vital role in mitigating climate change, fostering biodiversity, and enabling water and soil conservation. Millions of people rely on forests for food security, livelihoods and energy sources. While the rate of forest loss and degradation has slowed globally since 2000, they still contribute to challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss. Deforestation and forest degradation are complex with multiple causes that differ from region to region, but agriculture has historically been among the major drivers. Overall, deforestation is driven by the need to provide food, feed, energy, timber and housing for a global population steadily growing in numbers and wealth. To meet this growing demand without increasing the pressure for deforestation, yield gaps need to be closed around the globe through the adoption of modern agriculture and forestry technologies and practices. Fulfilling the demand in one region should not occur at the cost of deforestation in another region.