The Australian research does not directly reference the
controversy over horse slaughter for human
consumption in the U.S., but confirms the importance of slaughter to the economic structure of the horse breeding business.
Looking forward, things to watch include: the impact of economic recovery on commodity prices and agricultural expansion for food and biofuels production; large - scale land acquisition by foreign nations and corporations in tropical countries; climate negotiations and the REDD mechanism, including
controversies over land rights, «offsetting», forest definitions, and sustainable forest management; the emergence of payments for ecosystem services beyond REDD; the cap - and - trade versus carbon tax schemes; efforts to address the demand side of deforestation — notably
consumption; emerging certification systems for agricultural and forestry products (i.e. RSPO, Aliança da Terra, FSC, etc); and Brazil's progress in meeting its deforestation reduction targets.