Relates to prohibitions on the use of certain tropical hardwoods for state contracts

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Liz Krueger says this is needed

Tropical forests cover roughly 7 percent of Earth's surface, but harbor close to 50 percent of all species on Earth. Those species are now going extinct at a rate that is at least 100 to 1,000 times higher than historical levels, due to human activity. Globally, an estimated 18,000,000 acres of forest, an area more than half the size of New York State, are lost every year to deforestation according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, with over one-half of Earth's tropical forests already gone. At the current pace, the entirety of Earth's tropical rainforests will be degraded or destroyed within the next 100 years. A significant amount of the world's greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation and forest degradation. Taking into account carbon seques- tration potential, stopping the loss of tropical forests, mangroves, and wetlands could provide over 20 percent of necessary climate mitigation by 2030. Loss of biodiversity resulting from forest degradation and deforesta- tion,-as well as human encroachment on formerly undisturbed ecosystems, increases the risks of zoonotic disease pandemics such as COVID-19. In addition, tropical deforestation in many countries is closely associ- ated with violations of the land rights of indigenous peoples and local communities and with the exploitation of workers, including forced labor and child labor, and in many cases is enabled by corruption, criminali- ty, and violence against conservationists and land defenders. The prima- ry factor leading to tropical deforestation is degradation and road- building associated with logging for timber. New York, which has one of the largest economies in the world and a state government with significant purchasing power, is inadvertently promoting and sanctioning tropical primary forest degradation and trop- ical deforestation through government purchases of tropical hardwood products. This bill will update and close loopholes in existing statutes that limit the purchase of tropical hardwoods.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.