The Government recently announced long-awaited plans to address the problem of deforestation in UK supply chains by putting a due diligence obligation on large UK firms to eliminate illegal deforestation in their supply chains.

However, with legal protections against deforestation being slashed in nations like Bolsonaro’s Brazil, tackling illegal deforestation only addresses half of the problem. I asked the Secretary of State why his plans will not address legal deforestation, and whether he will support my amendment to the Environment Bill – which would address deforestation across the board.

Read my recent article for Business Green on overseas deforestation here: Government proposals to combat overseas deforestation can and must be strengthened.