Forests: Imports
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of UK imports of commodities on the financial value of deforested land.
Answered by Mary Creagh
From our modelling we know that the UK consumption of agricultural commodities was associated with 35,600 hectares of deforestation worldwide in 2022 and 12.7 million tonnes of associated carbon emissions. The UK is estimated to have been the 15th largest driver of deforestation that year. The UK Government places an economic cost of £260 per tonne of carbon emitted, and the value of ecosystem services that forests provide are estimated to range from £9,000-£22,000 per hectare depending on whether they are tropical, which would include the Amazon, or temperate.
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