UK food businesses warn Brazilian Congress over Amazon land bill

by

A group of over 40 food businesses in the UK have sent an open letter to the members of Brazil's National Congress urging them to reject proposed legislation that could legalise the private occupation of public land, and threatening to stop sourcing goods from the country if it continues.

The letter expresses concern about the "extremely high" levels of deforestation in Brazil, which it says could accelerate further if the bill is passed. It also notes the "increasingly inadequate" targets for reduction and budgets to deliver them.

Also read: Multinationals & Governments team up to end deforestation

The proposed legislation, which is expected to go before the Senate within days, comes just months after the country pledged an end to illegal logging.

The open letter has been signed by some of the biggest names in the British food sector including The Co-operative Group, the British Retail Consortium and Greggs, as well as most of the major supermarkets such as Aldi, Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's.

The companies said that they "consider the Amazon as a vital part of the earth system that’s essential to the security of our planet as well as being a critical part of a prosperous future for Brazilians and all of society."

The Amazon is the world's largest rainforest and often referred to as the "lungs of the world" due to its critical role in storing carbon and mitigating the effects of climate change.

It is reported that levels of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon are the highest they have been since 2008 under the leadership of President Jair Bolsonaro, who was elected in 2018.

According to the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project, some 430,000 acres of the Amazon have been burned or logged this year alone. The majority of the land is cleared for the grazing of cattle for beef exports, or for growing soy, which is used in animal feed.

Also read: Brazilian farmers' lobbies divided over EU's Amazon deforestation complaints

At last month's virtual Leaders' Summit on Climate, hosted by US President Joe Biden, Bolsonaro pledged to end illegal logging in Brazil. The letter points out that the measures contained in the bill are "counter to the narrative and rhetoric we have seen internationally from Brazil as recently as 22 April 2021 at the summit with US President Joe Biden".

The proposed bill, which was put forward by Senator Irajá Filho of the centre-right Brazilian Social Democracy Party, contains measures that would enable the sale of land that has been illegally occupied since 2012, potentially allowing the illegal occupiers to buy it.

Supporters of the bill say it will allow small-scale farmers to clarify land title deeds.

A raft of similar measures was put forward in a different bill last year which were later withdrawn after a group of over 40 organisations made similar threats to end supply chain sourcing.

"The existing protections and land designations enshrined in Brazilian legislation have been instrumental in our organisations having trust that our products, services, investments and business relationships in Brazil are aligned with the commitments we hold as environmentally and socially responsible enterprises, and that our customers and stakeholders expect of us," the letter said.

Also read: Mercosur trade pact splits EU, threatening ratification

It went on to say that the "door remains open to work with Brazilian partners on supporting the development of sustainable land management and agriculture."

The companies also described themselves as "willing partners" in supporting economic development and stressed the importance of upholding Indigenous Peoples' rights.

The open letter ended by saying that if this bill or similar measures that undermine existing protections are enshrined into law, they will be left with "no choice but to reconsider our support and use of the Brazilian agricultural commodity supply chain."

Back to Homepage

Back to Consumer Goods

Back to Politics & Economics