Global impacts of agricultural trade and consumption on ecosystems and biodiversity: exploring Germany's and China's roles as importing consuming countries

Research Project, 2022 – 2024

Land use and agriculture are major contributors to the ongoing climate and biodiversity crises. International trade of agricultural products is increasingly shaping land systems and ecosystems around the globe. The resulting deforestation and loss of habitats in the large producer countries, especially in the tropics, is partly fueled by consumption in rich, Western countries, such as Germany, and mediated through global supply chains. At the same time, China has become the largest importer of agricultural products, linked to a large degree to the fast increase in the consumption of animal products but also because China uses parts of these imports for producing goods that are in turn exported to other countries. In this project, we plan to advance methods to capture these processes, contribute to the harmonization of approaches across existing initiatives and to provide in depth analyses of roles Germany and China play in driving ecosystem change and biodiversity loss through their agricultural imports, consumption, and exports. In addition to outputs targeted at an academic audience, we will disseminate insights generated in the project to a wide range of relevant stakeholders. We will produce a database, tailored to the needs of different interest groups and purposes (e.g. for the visualization of impacts or for the communication of conceptual
differences and uncertainties). Through webinars and policy briefs we will communicate our insights to relevant partners and groups. Overall, the project will contribute to a clearer understanding which
parts of Germany’s and China’s agricultural supply chains are especially relevant in driving ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss and to identify potential entry points for reducing and mitigating these impacts.