BlackRock’s recent statement that it is engaging with palm oil companies to better understand the industry’s challenges related to biodiversity and deforestation marked the first public acknowledgement from the firm of ESG risks associated with this sector. “Our engagements were part of an ongoing, multi-year effort to further our understanding of, and encourage companies to …
Environmental finance firm Sustainable Investment Management (SIM) is launching a green bond initiative on the London Stock Exchange on July 4, 2019 for medium-sized farmers in an effort to reduce deforestation in the Cerrado, a large tropical savanna biome that covers more than 20 percent of Brazil and has seen high rates of deforestation since …
Institutional investors, asset managers, and other financial actors are increasingly considering certain climate-related risks and opportunities in their investment decisions. They have particularly focused on energy, fossil fuels, and pollution, but the significance of deforestation to climate change is becoming more relevant to the sector. Currently, and in the coming decades, investors have to grapple …
Similar to physical actors along commodity supply chains, investors are facing greater pressure to limit links to deforestation, a trend that could expose them to reputation risks. A recent report from Amazon Watch (for which CRR partner Profundo provided research on the downstream supply chain) highlights this growing risk. It argues for reform among investors …
Many fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies have publicly committed to a 2020 deadline to end deforestation in their supply chains. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that most FMCGs will not meet this deadline. NGO campaigns against individual FMCGs and benchmark studies that show the differences in implementation of zero-deforestation commitments indicate increasing reputation risks …
Between March 7, 2019 and May 5, 2019, SLC Agrícola, the largest listed soybean producer in Brazil, cleared 1,355 hectares (ha) of native vegetation at its Fazenda Parceiro farm. This farm, which was exclusively used for soy production in 2018, is located in the municipality of Formosa do Rio Preto, at the border of the …
On April 17, 2019, the indigenous Shipibo Community in Peru announced that it filed complaints with the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) against Alicorp and one of its mill suppliers. In a press release published by Forest Peoples Programme, released together with the Shipibo community Santa Clara de Uchunya and its representative organisation, the …
China’s meat industry is now facing major challenges with African swine fever poised to cut the country’s pig population by a third. The impact of this sharp decline will likely have widespread ramifications, including higher global meat prices and stronger Chinese imports from Latin American countries, particularly Brazil, where rising deforestation is being fueled by …
Casino Group is a French multi-banner food retailer, with a controlling share in Grupo Pão de Açúcar (GPA) in Brazil. This report analyses GPA’s deforestation risk exposure based on beef samples collected through store visits. Chain Reaction Research (CRR) visited 50 GPA supermarkets in five Brazilian cities and inspected 500 randomly selected beef products. Data …
With more reliance on Brazilian beef, Chinese downstream companies in the meat industry are facing risks from supply associated with deforestation. Higher demand for Brazilian beef in China, where imports from Brazil have quadrupled since 2010, has been the major driver behind the rise in Brazil’s exports. Total exports of Brazilian beef increased by 2.6 …
