![]() The Irish American car seat maker Adient also adopted a Deforestation Policy in September 2022. Neither does Lear set a time-bound commitment or deforestation cut-off date, nor trace where the leather it sources comes from, or have a mechanism to deal with non-compliances. It only ‘encourages’ the protection of ‘High Conservation Value (HCV) forests. The expectations it sets towards its leather suppliers do not go beyond the legal requirements that these companies are already expected to adhere to. However, this policy falls short of best practices it defines deforestation as “loss of forest due to illegal land conversion for agriculture, or practices that result in severe and sustained degradation of forests and peatlands”. Lear Corporation, one of the largest makers of leather car seats, revised its one-page No Deforestation Policy in March 2022. Says Joana Faggin at Aidenvironment, lead researcher for this briefingĪnd the previous leather study from 2021.ĭownload the RFN leather benchmark reportĭownload the leather benchmark data sheet The automotive sector has been late in establishing zeroĭeforestation policies that include leather as a deforestation riskĬommodity, and it is urgent to monitor its effective implementation,” “Only a few companies from the automotive sector acknowledge leatherĪs a deforestation risk commodity even though Europe has been theĭestination market for one-third of the bovine leather produced inīrazil. Each of these companies are systematically scored againstīest practice indicators, based on the Guiding Principles of the Accountability Framework, the most widely accepted set of standards for companies in forest-risk sectors. Policies the information they disclose to the public and their ![]() Leather-related deforestation risks how they implemented these On the strength of their policies and strategies to address ![]() Sustainability consultancy Aidenvironment, RFN assessed these companies On the role of the car industry in driving deforestation, Rainforestįoundation Norway (RFN) has now examined the policies and practices ofġ5 companies in the automotive supply chain 10 well-known car brandsĪnd five of its direct car seat suppliers. The Amazon rainforest is at the brink of a tipping point, and more action is urgently needed,” says Nils Hermann Ranum, Head of Deforestation Free Markets at Rainforest Foundation Norway. “The automotive industry is well aware of this issue, as we have confronted them with it several times, yet they choose to ignore our warnings and do little or nothing to ensure that their production does not contribute to deforestation. ![]() So what are these companies doing to mitigate these risks and ensure that their products are deforestation-free? Rainforest Foundation Norway’s new briefing shows that the automotive industry is not nearly doing enough. As the European Union is developing new deforestation regulation on forest-risk products such as leather, car companies that rely on Brazilian leather may face substantial risks when they are associated with the destruction of the Brazilian Amazon. In the Brazilian Amazon, cattle is linked to a stunning 80 percent of forest clearing.Įurope is an important market for leather produced from these animals, and half of the leather that Europe imports from Brazil goes into luxury car seats. Of all forest lost to agriculture, the meat and leather industries account for more than a third. Cattle grazing is the single largest cause of all rainforest destruction. ![]()
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