Between 2005 and 2023, Italian consumption of palm oil, beef products, soy, wood, coffee, cocoa, and natural rubber has put approximately 594,000 hectares of forest at risk, equivalent to 100 square meters per Italian citizen. Although these figures have declined over the period examined, they remain significant and place Italy in 20th place globally and third in the EU in terms of embedded deforestation.
More than half of the deforestation embedded in Italian consumption is concentrated in just two product categories (palm oil and beef products) and just two countries (Indonesia and Brazil); nevertheless, the contribution of other products and countries remains significant.
Deforestation is embedded in numerous products and sectors, including some flagship sectors of Made in Italy and, more generally, of the Italian, European, and international industrial and manufacturing sectors.
Despite a general downward trend in the risk of deforestation embedded in Italian consumption, the Italian system continues to bear significant responsibility for the impacts of Made in Italy supply chains. Urgent collective action is therefore needed to combat deforestation and forest degradation, as well as to mitigate their impacts: full implementation of the EUDR without further simplifications or delays, a commitment by companies to zero-deforestation supply chains, strengthening of independent monitoring, and, above all, a transition toward more sustainable production and consumption models.