This legislation amends state finance law to close a loophole in existing restrictions on government purchasing of tropical hardwoods.
Tropical deforestation is a major source of climate pollution. In 2024, tropical regions lost over 16 million acres of rainforest, generating 3.1 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions, roughly the equivalent of nine times New York State’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, New York State purchases and uses lumber and wood products made from tropical hardwood species at the heart of the deforestation crisis. In order to protect tropical forests, and by extension their ability to protect against climate change, we must move away from these purchases.
The Tropical Hardwood Loophole Closure bill strengthens existing restrictions on government purchasing of tropical hardwoods by expanding the list of trees covered. Original restrictions passed in 1991 have a loophole that doesn’t cover tree species that are key in the fight against deforestation globally. Two of the most impactful species not currently included in restrictions are ekki and greenheart.
Unsustainable and often illegal logging has continued to devastate tropical rainforests, which have shrunk by an area more than twice the size of California since 2000. Logging plays a key role by introducing roads that facilitate deforestation, leaving forests degraded and more vulnerable to forest fires, whether natural or deliberately set by humans to clear land. The resulting deforestation and degradation destroys important habitats, ecosystems, and carbon sinks.
Closing a harmful loophole will protect forest ecosystems and help mitigate the climate crisis, while saving taxpayer dollars by prioritizing more affordable, locally-sourced products.
