59% of assessed financial institutions still do not have a deforestation policy

The latest Forest 500 data from Global Canopy shows limited progress by the finance sector on deforestation. 

For the last 12 years Global Canopy has assessed and ranked the 150 financial institutions that provide the most financing to the Forest 500 companies. These 500 companies have the greatest influence on global deforestation through the production, processing and sourcing of nine forest risk commodities.

Key findings

• The majority (59%) of the assessed financial institutions still do not have a deforestation policy including three of the world’s largest asset managers – BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard.

• In 2025, finance sector progress on forest loss was limited and driven by a handful of leading financial institutions building on existing actions. Compared to 2024, small gains were seen in implementation and reporting, namely in the publication of risk assessments processes to screen and monitor clients/portfolio holdings and the reporting of evidence of policy implementation. 
  
  Graph: Progress on finance sector deforestation policies has stalled

• Only three financial institutions score over 50%: Legal & General (71% up from 56%), Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (55% up from 51%) and Schroders (51% up from 31%). These organisations have built on progress made in previous years. They demonstrate that action is feasible. 

• 23 financial institutions have failed to publish a single deforestation policy since the assessment started in 2014. This group includes three of the world’s largest asset managers.

• In 2025, Fidelity International, HSBC, UBS and US Bancorp all dropped a deforestation policy for one commodity. 

• Banco do Brasil was not scored for its soy policy which was published in 2014 and has not been updated since then.

Recommendations

The report includes recommendations for financial institutions to strengthen deforestation policies, improve implementation and reporting and develop credible transition plans aligned with global goals to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030.

It also calls on governments and regulators to strengthen supply chain and financial sector regulation, implement mandatory due diligence requirements and ensure existing regulations such as the EU Deforestation Regulation are effectively enforced.

Download the report

About Forest 500

Now in its 12th year of assessing financial institutions, Forest 500 looks at over 136,200 publicly available data points to evaluate and assess actions taken by the 150 financial institutions that provide the most financing to Forest 500 companies. 

Transparency and accountability are critical for private sector action on deforestation. Verifying action on forest loss relies on transparent disclosures. For this reason Forest 500 only assesses information that is publicly available on financial institution websites.