WWF says EU consumption causes 100 trees to disappear every minute

A study commissioned by the WWF has found that EU citizens' consumption of soy, palm oil, cocoa, coffee, beef, industrial timber and rubber led to the felling of 149 million trees worldwide between 2021 and 2023.

This corresponds to an average of 100 trees lost every minute due to EU demand, the environmental advocacy group announced at the UN climate summit in Brazil on Tuesday.

The two-week meeting of around 200 countries in the Amazon region focuses in part on the protection of tropical rainforests, which play an important role in climate protection.

The research findings suggest that German consumption leads to an average loss of 13 million trees per year, followed by Spain (6.5 million trees) and France (6.3 million).

The WWF stated that the EU regulation against deforestation, which has already been agreed in Brussels but postponed in its application, would prevent this overexploitation in future.

The regulation is now supposed to come into force on December 30. The aim is to achieve deforestation-free supply chains. 

Specifically, companies will in future have to submit a due diligence declaration stating that no forest has been cleared or damaged for the product in question since December 31, 2020. Those who do not comply with the regulations will face heavy penalties.