The Credit Chainsaw

The destruction of the world’s forests fuels both the global climate emergency and biodiversity loss, and comes at a devastating cost for forest communities, who defend and depend on them. Forests & Finance data, and Profundo reports were used in the development of this literature review published by Global Witness that shows how the 20 biggest banks in the EU have provided billions to companies linked to deforestation since 2016. This review shows that voluntary guidelines and individual commitments by financial institutions are unlikely to stop the financing of forest destruction.