High-resolution mapping of the trade in tropical commodities: a tool to estimate impacts of corporate zero deforestation commitments

Abstract

Conservation threats in tropical landscapes are increasingly related to telecouplings, i.e. linkages between distant places such as those embodied in trade flows. Developing solutions to address these threats require novel approaches for measuring and understanding these telecouplings. In this presentation, I outline methods and results from the Trase initiative (http://trase.earth/), a flagship effort to map international supply chains of deforestation-risk tropical commodities. I explain the diversity of datasets required to piece together international trade flows, link actors (e.g. individual companies) to the places where they operate, and estimate the impacts of that trade, including on biodiversity. Using examples from the Latin American soybean sector, I first explain how Trase can shed light on the efficacy of Zero Deforestation Commitments (“ZDCs”, i.e. commitments made by companies or countries to ensure that deforestation does not occur in their supply chains). I discuss variability in the strength of ZDCs, quantify the growth in their market share, reveal the variability in their geographic coverage, and present some of the first analyses of their net effects, ultimately outlining the potential for meeting their stated goal of ending commodity-associated deforestation by 2020.