'UK government efforts to end deforestation pointless unless more is done', charity says

Deforestation is when trees are removed to make new materials out of them, or to make space for farming or houses in the area they once grew in

The UK government's efforts to tackle deforestation have been criticised by wildlife charity the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Deforestation is when trees are pulled down to make new materials out of them, or to make space for farming or houses.

Trees provide food and shelter for wildlife and help remove carbon dioxide from the air, reducing the amount of harmful greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from heating up the planet.

The UK government, along with several other countries, made a promise to end deforestation by 2030.

But the charity says the government's commitment to protecting forests around the world will be "pointless" unless more effort is made to stop products containing materials that come from deforestation, from entering the country.

The government says it is working with local governments and businesses to encourage legal farming methods.

Deforestation and supply chains

Some foods and items in the UK supply chain comes from land that was deforested and contributes to the harmful practice, the charity says

In a new report from The WWF the charity says the UK is in danger of missing important targets.

It's calling on the UK government to remove deforestation from supply chains, which was meant to come into force as part of the Environment Act 2021.

Supply chains refer to the different stages, from a product being made or grown, until it reaches the shops where people can buy it.

The WWF is critical of products that are still allowed to be sold in the UK, that have ingredients or materials directly linked to deforestation.

And the charity says people in the UK are indirectly funding deforestation through the products we buy and the businesses we buy them from.

In a statement for Newsround, the WWF said: "It is true that the UK Government has made commitments to spend money protecting forests around the world.

"That is welcome, but it risks being rendered pointless if at the same time our economy is driving deforestation in those same places.

"We have no right to expect other nations to change their practices if we can't show leadership ourselves and take action to tackle our own footprint."

A spokesperson for the government's Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: "Our Environment Act helps tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains.

"Our approach will reinforce the efforts of world governments to ensure sustainable forest and land use, while we will continue to work closely with local governments and businesses to promote legal agriculture."

Fires are started deliberately to clear large areas of forested land to make way for farming

What's the situation globally?

During the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow, more than 100 world leaders signed an agreement to end deforestation by 2030.

Since then an area of tropical forest the same size as Denmark has been lost through deforestation.

It was agreed at COP26 that $14 billion would be given in public and private funds to help meet this deforestation target.

The purpose of the money is to help restore damaged land, tackle wildfires and support indigenous communities who rely on the rainforests for food and medicine.

Governments around the world want to help stop the practice of illegally chopping down trees

Despite these agreements deforestation increased by 4% worldwide in 2022, compared to in 2021.

The Forest Declaration Assessment report found that about 66,000 square kilometres (25,000 square miles) of forests were destroyed last year.

Calling for more action from world leaders, Tanya Steele, the head of WWF, said: "Missing our forest goals means even greater risks for our planet, each year we fail, because the targets get harder to meet each year that we fail them."

Some parts of the world are doing better than others and 50 countries, including Indonesia and Malaysia, are set to meet their deforestation targets for 2030.

Brazil - a country that is responsible for up to 30% of deforestation in the world - has improved its levels of deforestation in 2023 after the new government strengthened laws and enforcement to deter criminal deforestation.

How does deforestation affect climate change?

Deforestation is bad for global warming because trees remove carbon dioxide from the air that otherwise hangs around in the Earth's atmosphere trapping heat

Deforestation isn't only bad news for the wildlife and humans who rely on forests for food and places to live.

It also has an impact on global warming and climate change.

Trees and plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen.

When they're cut down, burned or left to rot, the carbon dioxide they have stored over their lifetime is released into the air, which contributes to global temperature rises.

That's because carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas - trapping heat within the Earth's atmosphere.

Forests are also critical for maintaining biodiversity and the livelihoods of millions of people.