The European Union is on the cusp of removing leather from the scope of its landmark anti-deforestation law, following months of intense lobbying by the industry.
Back to Climate News
Eco-Business
Industry lobbying pushes EU to drop leather from deforestation law
Abatify Summary
Nature & Climate Perspective
**The exclusion of leather from EUDR oversight significantly threatens forest biomes by decoupling a high-value cattle co-product from deforestation accountability. **
- Accelerates risks to LULUCF (Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry) targets as cattle ranching remains the primary driver of global tropical deforestation.
- Reduces the efficacy of nature-based solutions by allowing land cleared for cattle to remain profitable via unregulated leather bypasses.
- Undermines long-term environmental stability by failing to penalize biodiversity loss associated with grazing expansion in sensitive regions like the Amazon and Cerrado.
Market & Policy Outlook
**This policy retreat signals a weakening of regulatory rigor that conflicts with ICVCM Core Carbon Principles regarding additionality and robust quantification. **
- Creates a significant loophole in Scope 3 reporting for luxury and automotive sectors, complicating SBTi-aligned net-zero pathway certifications.
- Distorts market pricing for zero-deforestation commodities by lowering the compliance burden on high-impact leather value chains compared to other forest-risk commodities.
- Weakens the precedent for Article 6.2 and 6.4 mechanisms by demonstrating that political lobbying can successfully fragment supply chain traceability requirements.
This story moves you. Here's what you can do.
Related Resources
Sourcing:
Contact our trading desk for customized environmental commodities for your needs
Request sourcing: Article 6.2 (ITMOs)