Forest 500 update of companies with greatest exposure to tropical deforestation

By Emma Thomson

Every two years, Global Canopy re-identifies the 350 companies with the greatest exposure to tropical deforestation risk through their exposure to forest-risk commodities including beef and leather, soy, palm oil, timber and pulp and paper. Agricultural conversion for these commodities drives over two-thirds of tropical deforestation. These 350 companies, and the 150 financial institutions that provide the most finance to them, make up the Forest 500.

These companies may be the most exposed to tropical deforestation risk, but this also means they have the greatest influence in the forest-risk commodity supply chains they are involved in. If these companies act on deforestation and associated human rights abuses, they have the greatest potential to drive change. 

The Forest 500 companies and financial institutions are assessed annually on the strength and implementation of their publicly available commitments on deforestation and associated human rights abuses. These assessments run from mid-May to November 2022, and will be made publicly available on forest500.org in early 2023.

Our 2022 assessment methodology is now available.

To keep updated on the findings of the Forest 500 assessments and receive our annual Forest 500 report, you can sign up to our newsletter.

How are the companies identified?

To select the 350 companies with the most influence in the six commodity supply chains (beef, leather, soy, palm oil, timber and pulp and paper), we first identify the key producer countries. We focus on the countries with the largest areas of tropical forest that are losing forest cover at a rapid rate and high volume due to expanding commodity production. Find out more on our country selection methodology here.

We then identify the most influential companies, based on their exposure to forest-risk commodities and thus to deforestation risk. To assess exposure, we look at the scale of commodity production, the volume of commodities they process or trade, and their market share within global manufacturing and retail sectors. More detail on our company selection methodology is available here.

Which companies are included in the Forest 500?

The Forest 500 companies include those throughout the supply chain, including producers, processors, traders, manufacturers, and retailers, and covering all six of the highest risk commodities. 

All companies are selected as a ‘powerbroker’ for at least one commodity. This means that they are one of the companies exposed to the greatest volume of that commodity. Some companies are powerbrokers for just one commodity, others for all six.

While a company may be a powerbroker for one commodity, it may also produce or use other forest-risk commodities. They are still assessed for those non-powerbroker commodities, with the scores for the 'non-powerbroker' commodities given half the weighting of the powerbroker commodity scores (because the company has less influence over these supply chains). 

See the full list of companies selected and their powerbroker commodities.

Which companies are new to the Forest 500?

In 2022, 26 new companies were added to the Forest 500. These include chocolate manufacturer, Barry Callebaut, pharmaceutical retailer, Wallgreens Boots Alliance, Toyota Group, Fonterra Cooperative Group, and VW Group. 

How are the companies assessed?

Since 2014, Forest 500 has been assessing the 350 companies and 150 financial institutions on the strength and implementation of their commitments on deforestation and human rights every year.

The assessments are based only on publicly available information, published on the company’s website. All powerbrokers are assessed in their native language where possible, with a team of language consultants working on the assessments alongside the Forest 500 assessment team. 

Why do the annual Forest 500 assessments matter?

Addressing deforestation is key to addressing climate change - we cannot achieve net zero targets without eliminating tropical deforestation. For that reason, these companies have an important role to play as they have the power to transform forest-risk supply chains. 

Our most recent report and ranking, published in January 2022, found not enough companies are taking action. We cannot tackle climate change without urgent progress on halting and reversing deforestation. Companies need to step up their response and act accordingly.