By embedding Global Canopy’s forest-focused datasets—Forest IQ and Forest 500—into GIST Impact’s analytics platform, financial professionals can assess company-level deforestation risk with greater precision. Forest IQ tracks around 2,400 global companies across commodity supply chains, scoring them on exposure, governance, and disclosure quality. Meanwhile, Forest 500 ranks 500 companies and 150 financial institutions on their policies and performance related to deforestation, helping investors prioritize areas for engagement.
This combined intelligence gives investors clearer visibility on systemic risks linked to forest loss, which increasingly carry financial consequences—from supply chain disruption to reputational damage and regulatory exposure.
Deforestation is no longer viewed as an environmental issue alone. It’s a financial one, too. The integration of forest-risk datasets reflects a shift in how institutions are treating nature-related risks—embedding them alongside more traditional ESG concerns.
Pavan Sukhdev, CEO of GIST Impact, noted that deforestation contributes not just to emissions and biodiversity loss, but to broader economic instability, especially in emerging markets. With forests playing a major role in both climate and nature transitions, the new tools provide investors a more structured way to make deforestation analysis a routine part of investment due diligence.
