Overview
- The Chalmers team, using its new DeDuCE model, on Tuesday detailed 2001–2022 agriculture-driven losses of about 121–122 million hectares of forest.
- Beef accounts for 40% of clearing, with palm oil at 9%, soybeans 5%, maize 4%, rice 4%, cassava 3%, cocoa 2%, and coffee and rubber at 1% each.
- The researchers report maize, rice and cassava drive about 11% of clearing, a dispersed, domestic-market pressure that calls for action in producer countries.
- The study estimates about 41 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions, roughly 5% of the global total, with more than 80% of loss in the tropics and Brazil alone at 32%.
- The authors say the tool links satellite land-use data with farm statistics and will next be expanded to cover mining and energy drivers.