UK banks’ support for deforestation firms topped £900m last year

MP leads call for amendment to environment bill to root out illegal deforestation from supply chains

British banks provided at least 900m in finance last year to companies involved in deforestation overseas, research has shown, putting pressure on the government to include financial institutions in plans to force companies to root out illegal deforestation from their supply chains.

The environment bill will be debated in parliament on Wednesday and will include requirements for consumer goods companies to carry out due diligence on their suppliers, to ensure they are not selling goods linked to deforestation overseas.