THE ISSUE Investors, in our view, have been too slow to recognize and address the substantial systemic threat that deforestation poses to the climate, local communities, biodiversity and human rights. Many consumer goods companies purchase commodities, like palm oil and soy, through supply chains that originate in rainforests in places like Indonesia and Guatemala. Deforestation is a principal driver of climate change, responsible for roughly 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Extensive—and oftentimes illegal—deforestation can have devastating impacts on biodiversity and on local and indigenous communities that depend on forests for their livelihoods. Deforestation has also been linked to severe human rights violations and, in recent years, environmental campaigners and protesters have been arrested and killed in record numbers.