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The One Rule That Rewrote Global Timber Trade
Description
In 2025, the European Union's Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) came into full effect, forcing companies to prove that products like timber, cocoa, and coffee were not linked to deforestation anywhere in their supply chain. This episode digs into how one obscure rule — requiring geolocation coordinates for every plot of land where commodities are grown — is rewriting global trade routes, especially for timber and palm oil. Lucas and Luna trace the impact from the forests of Indonesia to the ports of Rotterdam, explaining why the rule has sparked protests from Brazil to Malaysia, caused a spike in compliance costs for smallholders, and led to a surprising uptick in satellite-monitoring startups. They also explore whether the EUDR is a blueprint for future climate-linked trade rules or just a well-intentioned headache that will push commodities into less regulated markets. Specific examples and numbers ground the conversation.