‘Limited progress’ is being made by finance firms in the UK in tackling deforestation, research is claiming.

Research by Global Canopy of 150 financial institutions claims that just under three in five do not have a deforestation policy in place, including three of the world’s largest asset managers, Vanguard, State Street and BlackRock.

It says during 2025 “finance sector progress on forest loss was limited and driven by a handful of leading financial institutions building on existing actions”.

It adds that “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”.

Three firms are singled out for praise for increasing their work around deforestation: Legal and General, Schroders and Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global.

“These organisations have built on progress made in previous years. They demonstrate that action is feasible,” said Global Canopy.

Among firms and institutions looked at 23 have failed to publish a single deforestation policy since Global Canopy’s assessment started in 2014.

During 2025 researchers found that Fidelity International, HSBC, UBS and US Bancorp all dropped a deforestation policy for one commodity.

Researchers are calling 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”.

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