The Forest Footprint Disclosure Project (FFD), launched this week, seeks to help investors better understand the business link to deforestation (PDF).

“Deforestation is a global emergency, the importance of which the business world needs to wake up to,” said Andrew Mitchell, chair of the FFD steering committee. “Billion-dollar funding mechanisms and new regulations are being put in place by governments to curb emissions from forests and agriculture. Calls are being heard from world leaders, major businesses and influential NGOs to halt deforestation now, and this is going to have a material impact on the way business can act in the future.”

The FFD Project will, for the first time, engage the financial community and businesses to help them understand their “forest footprint,” a measure of the use of commodities within a business’ supply chain that might directly or indirectly contribute to deforestation. The project also aims to help businesses minimise the impact of their forest footprints.

The project has also launched “Global Forest Footprints,” a report that details how consumer products containing commodities taken from rainforests contribute to deforestation. The report also explains how the project can help investors better manage their forest-related risks.

• ‘Serious’ error in CO2 accounting rules could lead to deforestation