Mass deforestation: How trade fells trees in Brazil and Indonesia

The margarine Martin Persson spreads on his sandwiches each morning doesn't keep him awake at night — but it does taste lightly of guilt.

Persson, a scientist at Chalmers University in Sweden who follows a vegan diet, knows his innocuous breakfast spread helps devastate forests about ten thousand kilometers away.

Along with beef and soy, palm oil in margarine and other everyday foods have long been known to accelerate deforestation in countries such as Brazil and Indonesia.

Now, Persson and an international team of researchers have quantified how much foreign demand for commodities drives that destruction.

The study, published last week, found that 29-39 percent of the carbon dioxide (CO2) released through deforestation is driven by international trade — with farmers felling forests to clear space for croplands, pastures and plantations that grow goods often consumed abroad.