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A bill to help save the world's most imperiled forests and wildlife has returned to the California legislature with redoubled public support and momentum.
The California Deforestation-Free Procurement Act, A.B. 416, would harness the State of California's enormous purchasing power to deny revenue to industries that are annually destroying millions of acres of priceless forest worldwide.
Of particular concern are two of the Earth's fastest-shrinking and most ecologically rich biomes—tropical forests and boreal forests. Each is a source of commodities such as palm oil, beef, soy, paper pulp, rubber and timber.
A.B. 416, authored by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), would require that all State of California contracts—if they involve commodities that potentially put tropical and primary boreal forests at risk—provide evidence that their operations are not linked to forest destruction or abuses of indigenous peoples' rights.
Introduced in 2019 and backed by groups including Forests Forever, the bill (then A.B. 2002) failed to pass before the end of session.
But if you were one of the Forests Forever supporters who wrote, phoned, or donated to support the measure last year, thank you! Significant legislation often takes years to become law, and we build this year on the progress of years previous.
This newest iteration of the bill adds boreal forests to the scope of protections. Boreal makes up about one third of the Earth's forests, and is found in the Northern hemisphere in cold-temperature regions.
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Paul Hughes
Executive Director
Forests Forever
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