Summary
This chapter describes the aims, instruments, and implementation mechanisms of key global, transnational, and national regulations governing deforestation and forest degradation. Then, it classifies these regulations into four basic types along two key analytical dimensions including the degree of compulsion of regulation (legally binding vs. non-legally binding) and the direction of regulation (market correction vs. market support). Next, the effectiveness of these regulations to tackle deforestation and forest degradation is assessed with explanations from literature on international relations, political economy, and international pathways of domestic influence. The results reveal important challenges in the design and implementation and causal impacts, including major inconsistencies between the forest-related regulations and forest-adverse economic sectors (e.g., agriculture, bioenergy, and mining). The chapter concludes in considering the need for coherent international forest-related cross-sectoral regulatory action aimed to enhance the prospects of tackling deforestation and forest degradation within and outside the scope of the global Sustainable Development Goals.