(Bloomberg) -- Food and commodity companies are falling short of global commitments to end deforestation by the end of the decade, a new report found, risking missing a key target of last year’s COP26 climate summit.

Only 19 out of 675 companies in industries like cattle, timber and palm oil have set targets to ensure no forests are cleared or converted for output of their products, according to a study by the Accountability Framework initiative and non-profit CDP. Failure to address the problem could result in almost $80 billion of potential losses compared with a cost of less than $7 billion to respond to the issue, the report said.

“Deforestation continues almost unchecked,” said Thomas Maddox, global director of forests at CDP. “We need more companies to commit to, and deliver, deforestation-free supply chains.”

Halting deforestation by 2030 was seen as a key breakthrough at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, and included countries like Brazil and Indonesia, which are home to large swathes of tropical rainforest. Still, there is concern over whether signatories to the deal will actually put in place the necessary measures to halt cutting down trees to make way for commodity production. 

An investigation by Bloomberg this year showed that the world’s biggest beef producer JBS SA isn’t living up to its deforestation commitments. Clearing out forests globally accounts for around 11% of annual greenhouse gas emissions created by humans, according to the report Tuesday.

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