Beef leads global deforestation driven by agriculture – Reuters
A new study maps agriculture’s impact on forests worldwide from 2001 to 2022.
GLOBAL – Beef production is responsible for 40% of all forests cleared to make room for food production, according to a study highlighted by Reuters.
Brazil, the world’s top exporter of beef and soybeans, has cleared more forest for agriculture than any other nation, the research indicates.
The study, conducted by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, analysed 184 agricultural commodities across 179 countries from 2001 to 2022 using satellite imagery and agricultural statistics.
Following beef, palm oil contributes 9% of global deforestation, soybeans 5%, maize 4%, rice 4%, cassava 3%, cocoa 2%, and both coffee and rubber 1% each, according to the survey.
On a national scale, Brazil accounted for 32% of deforestation over the period, followed by Indonesia at 9%, China and the Democratic Republic of Congo each at 6%, the United States at 5%, and the Ivory Coast at 3%.
Between 2001 and 2022, 121 million hectares (299 million acres) of forest were lost, releasing 41.2 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) into the atmosphere.
The study shows that staple crops, including maize, rice, and cassava, together accounted for 11% of agriculture-linked deforestation, exceeding the combined impact of cocoa and coffee, and that their effects are distributed globally rather than concentrated in a few regions.
Martin Persson, one of the lead researchers, said deforestation is driven not only by international trade but also by domestic demand in producer countries, which can generate significant forest loss.
Despite its role in greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation for agriculture accounts for approximately 5% of total global carbon dioxide emissions, the researchers noted.
The team plans to expand their model to cover additional sectors, such as mining and energy, to better understand the full scope of human-driven land-use changes.
This study provides a comprehensive view of how global agriculture continues to reshape forests and highlights the role of both export and domestic markets in driving environmental change.
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