Explainer: Setting and Implementing No-Deforestation Commitments under SBTi FLAG

As deforestation is a major contributor to land sector emissions, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)’s Forest, Land, and Agriculture (FLAG) Guidance requires companies to set a no-deforestation commitment with a target date of 2025 or earlier. The SBTi FLAG Guidance further recommends that this commitment align with the Accountability Framework.

As such, the AFi has launched its Explainer on Setting and Implementing No-Deforestation Commitments under SBTi FLAG. The explainer can be used by all companies that are working to set SBTi FLAG targets, including producers, manufacturers, and retailers of food, beverage, and forestry products. Drawing on both SBTi FLAG Guidance and the Accountability Framework, this explainer contains recommendations on the following topics: 

• Best practice for companies when setting no-deforestation commitments as part of SBTi FLAG targets
• Which companies need to set no-deforestation commitments
• The commodities for which companies should set no-deforestation commitments (ie, beef, cocoa, palm oil, soy, timber, and wood fibre)
• How companies can set cutoff dates and target dates in line with SBTi requirements

For more information, read the announcement of the launch of this explainer here.

Originally published in 2024, this explainer was updated in April 2026 to align with revisions made to Version 1.2 of the SBTi FLAG Guidance in March 2026.