What can Forest 500 data be used for?

All Forest 500 data is publicly available on our website and can be used for a number of purposes, including:

Identifying high-risk companies and financial institutions

Forest 500 data can be integrated into high-level risk assessments of companies in supply chains and/or financial portfolios to understand which are most exposed to deforestation risk.

Financial institutions that would like to access data on the Forest 500 companies, should contact Forest IQ. Forest IQ was developed to meet the needs of financial institutions. It aligns, connects and curates the best available datasets on how companies address their links to deforestation.

DEFT Pathway is a new data feature on the Forest IQ website that facilitates engagement on deforestation between financial institutions and companies. It helps users understand the actions 500 key companies can take to transition to deforestation-free supply chains. DEFT Pathway launches in September 2026.

Peer analysis and comparison

All companies are assessed against best practice using the same methodology, as are all financial institutions. Forest 500 data can be used to compare the strength of commitments and implementation with companies/financial institutions operating in similar industries. The scores are directly comparable.

Identifying and analysing trends

Policymakers and civil society organisations can easily identify and analyse trends across companies and financial institutions operating in the deforestation economy by comparing Forest 500 data between segments of the supply chain, industry sectors and commodities, which align with the forest risk commodities in scope for the EU Deforestation Regulation.

Engagement of companies and financial institutions

Where companies and financial institutions do not score for specific Forest 500 indicators, this highlights gaps in their approach on deforestation and human rights. This can be used to engage companies and financial institutions on how to improve their approach to align with best practice.

Benchmarking progress and accountability

Forest 500 data is updated annually, providing a key benchmark of the progress made by companies and financial institutions over time as compared with best practice.

How to use the Forest 500 data

You can download or view all Forest 500 data on the Rankings pages. On the Rankings pages, filters can be used to explore specific commodities, segments or sectors and their results. Users can also click through to individual company profiles to view assessments in more detail.

For further guidance on downloading the datasets, watch the video explainer: