Fashion's deforestation challenge: COP30 urges action among leather supply chains

COP30 remains ongoing in Belém, Brazil, where its close proximity to the Amazon rainforest has highlighted an urgency for businesses to act on deforestation risks. Heightened scrutiny towards some of fashion’s biggest players, alongside upcoming European regulations, has intensified pressure on the sector. Despite growing awareness, significant action is still required in order to meet global climate targets.

Running to November 21, the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) has brought together global delegates to discuss solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate impacts. From the outset, Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva set the tone of the event, emphasising that this edition must focus on tangible implementation rather than vague promises to ensure a more results-driven agenda.

Major global fashion players implicated in environmental harms

A major driver of deforestation in Brazil is cattle ranching, which supplies both the meat and, in turn, leather industries. While some authorities have reported decreases in forest loss in recent years, transparency remains limited, and forest-dependent communities and sustainable land-use solutions require further support. This context has drawn attention to sectors like fashion, which are being increasingly urged to improve traceability, transparency and management of related risks in their supply chains.

A report by Climate Rights International (CRI) suggests that “major global fashion and footwear brands are linked through their leather supply chains to Brazilian producers implicated in egregious environmental and human rights harms”. It thus concludes that, due to the lack of traceability solutions in place, the Brazilian leather and beef industries cannot be reliably considered free of illegal deforestation or human rights abuses.

Incoming regulation heightens pressure as noncompliance risks reputational harm

This issue is magnified by the European Union’s new Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products (EUDR), scheduled for phased rollout starting December 30, 2025, from which time large companies must comply. Under the EUDR, companies must prove that imported goods, including leather, are not produced on deforested land after December 2020. Businesses selling in the region must be able to provide geographic coordinates for where animals in their supply chains were raised. Non-compliance could therefore restrict market access in the EU. Smaller companies have been set a compliance deadline of June 30, 2026.

Despite a prior commitment made by world leaders at COP26, to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030, industry leaders remain behind schedule on transparency. Global Canopy reports that only 22 percent of major cattle and leather corporations published deforestation commitments in 2025, and just 5 percent disclosed any volumes as “deforestation- and/or conversion-free”.

An investigation by Repórter Brasil uncovered 10 recent cases in which cattle ranches implicated in deforestation, labour abuses and/or invasions of Indigenous territories had entered the supply chains of Brazilian meatpackers that then went on to sell cattle to slaughterhouses associated with supply tanneries operated by six firms. A further report by Stand.earth Research Group on behalf of CRI found 24 international brands were linked through their 2023/2024 supply chains to tanneries operated by one or more of these companies. These included everything from sportswear giants like Adidas, Nike and Asics to premium labels such as Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein, Kate Spade and Lacoste.

Solutions evolve in the form of cattle tracking and material alternatives

Additional data from Global Canopy’s Floresta 2025 index shows deforestation intensity in Brazil’s cattle sector has increased roughly between 2020 and 2023, with approximately 62 percent of cattle-related forest loss occurring in the Amazon. In response, Brazil is introducing a national cattle tracking system, particularly in Pará, where all 24 million cattle are to be geolocated by 2026. Verifying the full hide supply chain for global exports, however, remains a challenge.

It is clear then that fashion’s response remains slow. While many brands have announced sustainable leather initiatives, few are able to demonstrate full traceability from raw materials to finished products. With regulation also looming, without verifiable data companies are at risk of regulatory penalties and restrictions in certain markets. The World Resources Institute estimates that firms heavily reliant on leather could face up to a 20 percent increase in per-unit costs by 2027 due to related certification and supply chain restructuring.

COP30 has highlighted emerging opportunities, however. Brazilian innovators are showcasing forest-positive materials at platforms like the Amazon Bioeconomy and Innovation Park, which opened ahead of the conference and serves as an innovation hub throughout its duration. Similarly, the Festival of Impact Investment and Sustainable Amazon Businesses event further emphasises business innovation, Amazon-sourced materials and sustainable forest-based supply chains, pushing for associated sectors to untangle themselves from the throes of deforestation.

This COP could therefore be a turning point. Fashion that is closely linked to agriculture supply chains also has a strong incentive to act, with deforestation set to directly impact compliance and reputation on a broader scale. Brands that take clear action in regards to supply chain transparency and forest-risk management will therefore be better prepared for external market pressures.