Deforestation embodied in global trade: Integrating environmental extended input-output method and complex network analysis

As deforestation has become an increasingly urgent issue worldwide, global initiatives and national policies have been launched to reduce deforestation. However, existing measures pay little attention to indirect deforestation and consumers' responsibilities, overlooking the different roles played by countries in the trading network. Therewith, to identify the producer's and consumers' responsibilities for deforestation, and reveal the roles and interrelations of those countries in the trading system, this study applies input-output analysis to find the main producers and consumers of embodied deforestation and complex network method to construct a network to illustrate the interrelations of the countries and identify their roles in the network. The results show the United States, China, Germany and other developed countries are the main consumers while Canada, Brazil, Indonesia and other heavily forested countries are the critical providers of embodied deforestation. Further studies find these countries have the highest level of degree, strength, and centrality, dominating the trade activities in the network. Additionally, the network features small-world nature and heterogeneity, illustrating the close connection of the network and the decisive roles of key nodes. This analysis provides findings to help policymakers more effectively address deforestation worldwide, by highlighting the flow of resources to and from key economies which have previously been overlooked. [Display omitted] •A well-rounded picture of embodied deforestation transaction system was painted.•Analyzing from a combination of input-output analysis and complex network method.•The USA is the largest importer and Canada is the largest exporter of deforestation.•The embodied deforestation network features small-world nature and heterogeneity.•Policymakers should roundly consider the responsibility of producers and consumers.