Forests - Making the Law Work The Environmental Investigation Agency’s response to the

The report highlighted that, while the UK is the 15th largest contributor to tropical deforestation in global terms, the intensity of UK consumption (measured in footprint per tonne of product consumed) is higher than that of China.4 This demonstrates the crucial role of the UK and therefore the urgency of the need to bring the due diligence legislation into effect. [...] Urgency of the legislation UK Government: “We are fully aware of the urgency of the need to legislate to tackle deforestation in our supply chains” (page 7) EIA: There is still no commitment to a date for publication of the secondary regulations that would bring the due diligence requirements under the UK Environment Act into force – only that the Government is “committed to laying secondary legis. [...] It is positive that the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 commits the Treasury to reviewing whether the financial regulatory framework is adequate for the purpose of eliminating the financing of illegal deforestation and to consider what changes to the regulatory framework may be appropriate. [...] However, the time taken for this nine- month review, which will only commence once the secondary regulations to Schedule 17 of the Environment Act are enacted, will allow for the financing of deforestation to continue unabated during this time and the review does not firmly commit the Government to regulating the financial sector. [...] Given the timeframe for the Treasury’s review of the financial system and the amount of deforestation that will take place in that time, the Government should in the meantime commit to regulating the financial sector in relation to activities linked to deforestation.