On April 25, the New York Senate approved the Tropical Deforestation-Free Procurement Act, a bill intended to ensure that companies contracting with the New York state government are not contributing to tropical deforestation and human rights abuses overseas. Now the bill will need to be voted on in the New York Assembly, and if approved, signed into law by the governor.
Under the bill, sponsored by Senator Liz Krueger, the state of New York would require its contractors to ensure that any soy, beef, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, wood pulp, paper, and wood products are not sourced from land where deforestation or forest degradation occurred after January 1st, 2023. Contractors would also have to ensure that these agricultural commodities are not related to violations of workers’ rights, land tenure rights, and Indigenous peoples’ right to free, prior, and informed consent.
The bill would also require contractors to publicize data demonstrating they addressed relevant risks in their supply chains and identified precisely where their products originated.
Globally, industrial agriculture is the largest driver of tropical deforestation. Much industrial agriculture is rife with human rights abuses and environmental degradation. Among the abuses Human Rights Watch has documented in a number of countries are exploitative labor conditions – including forced and child labor, contamination of communities’ water sources, and dangerous air pollution – workers’ and communities’ exposure to toxic pesticides, and forced displacement of rural communities as their lands are converted to plantations and pastures.
Source: hrw.org
Photo Credit: istock-georgeclerk
Categories: New York, Crops, Rural Lifestyle