Four of the largest players in the global cattle industry have joined forces to ban the purchase of cattle from newly deforested areas of the Brazilian Amazon from their supply chains. At a high-level event in Sao Paulo organised by Greenpeace, meat companies JBS-Friboi, Bertin, Minerva and Marfrig declared the adoption of environmental and social standards to ensure their products are free from cattle raised in newly deforested areas of the rainforest.
The move follows the release of the Greenpeace report ‘Slaughtering the Amazon’ in June, which exposed the link between forest destruction and the expansion of cattle ranching in the Amazon, prompting calls for action from key international companies, including Adidas, Nike and Timberland, which committed to cancel contracts unless their products were guaranteed to be free from Amazon destruction, encouraging today’s move.
JBS-Friboi is both Brazil’s and the world’s largest beef producer and global exporter of processed beef. Bertin is the world’s largest leather exporter and Brazil’s second-largest beef exporter. Minerva is Brazil’s third largest beef exporter; Marfrig is the world's fourth largest beef producer.
The Brazilian Association of Supermarkets (ABRAS), which includes Walmart and Carrefour, attended the event and supported the call for zero deforestation.
Measures include the monitoring of their supply chains and clear targets for the registration of farms that both directly and indirectly supply cattle as well as measures to end the purchase of cattle from indigenous and protected areas and from farms using slave labour.
“This is an important step in the fight to stop the destruction of one of the world’s most critical rainforests and vital to helping tackle climate change,” said Paulo Adario, Greenpeace Amazon campaign director.
The Brazilian cattle sector, which occupies 80 per cent of all deforested areas of the Amazon, is the country’s leading carbon polluter.
The event was attended by Governor Blairo Maggi of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, which has the highest rate of deforestation in the Amazon and the largest cattle herd in Brazil. Maggi announced that the state would support efforts to protect the Amazon and would provide high-resolution satellite images for monitoring.
“This announcement shows that the cattle industry and a state government are doing their part. President Lula must now do his homework to improve Brazil's action plan to fight Amazon destruction, ensuring an end to deforestation by 2015, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and averting the impending climate crisis,” said Adario.
At the UN General Assembly in September, President Lula announced a target of 80 per cent reduction in deforestation by 2020 for Brazil.
In just 10 weeks’ time, governments around the world will meet in Copenhagen to agree a strong climate deal to avoid catastrophic climate change. Deforestation accounts for around 20 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than all the world’s trains, planes and cars put together. A good climate deal will only be effective if it successfully tackles emissions from both fossil fuels and deforestation.
