If passed, AB 572 would mandate state contracts involving forest-risk commodities only go to companies with sustainable practices

SACRAMENTO – Given the ever-present and increasing threat climate change poses to all Californians, and the role tropical deforestation plays in escalating that threat, Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), along with Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella), and Assemblymember Eloise Reyes (D-San Bernardino), and accompanied by co-sponsors Social Compassion in Legislation and Friends of the Earth, today announced the introduction of AB 572, the California Deforestation-Free Procurement Act. If passed, all California state contracts involving forest-risk commodities, such as palm oil, soy, cattle, rubber, paper/pulp, and timber, would require their suppliers to have a No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation (NDPE) policy.