Credit Where It's Due: Unearthing the Relationship Between Rural Credit Subsidies and Deforestation

The analysis reveals that 31% of properties that deforested in Brazil between 2020 and 2022 accessed subsidized rural credit, with a small number of large properties absorbing a significant portion of these funds. The study finds that deforestation is highly concentrated among the largest credit recipients, particularly in the Cerrado biome, and argues that current credit restrictions based on environmental embargoes are insufficient because most deforested properties are not embargoed.

• Between 2020 and 2022, 31% of properties that engaged in deforestation accessed subsidized rural credit, receiving an average of R$ 14 billion annually, which represents 15% of the total volume of subsidized credit.
• Deforestation among subsidized credit recipients is highly concentrated in large properties; the average area of these properties is nearly ten times larger than those without deforestation, and 5% of the largest properties account for 74% of the associated vegetation loss.
• The Cerrado biome shows the strongest link between subsidized credit and deforestation, where 47% of subsidized rural credit is associated with deforestation and 50% of the biome's deforestation is associated with subsidized credit.
• Current credit restrictions based on environmental embargoes are largely ineffective because most deforested properties are not embargoed; between 2020 and 2022, only 939 properties had embargoes out of an annual average of 64,747 properties that both deforested and took subsidized credit.
• Brazil's agricultural production continues to grow through land expansion, contrary to global trends of productivity-led growth, despite the fact that the country could double production using existing cleared land.

APA

Climate Policy Initiative (2024). Credit Where It's Due: Unearthing the Relationship Between Rural Credit Subsidies and Deforestation. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/credit-where-its-due-unearthing-the-relationship-between-rural-credit-subsidies-and-deforestation/

Chicago

Climate Policy Initiative. Credit Where It's Due: Unearthing the Relationship Between Rural Credit Subsidies and Deforestation. 2024. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/credit-where-its-due-unearthing-the-relationship-between-rural-credit-subsidies-and-deforestation/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Policy Initiative |title=Credit Where It's Due: Unearthing the Relationship Between Rural Credit Subsidies and Deforestation |date=8 July 2024 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/credit-where-its-due-unearthing-the-relationship-between-rural-credit-subsidies-and-deforestation/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatepolicyinitiative2024credit, author = {{Climate Policy Initiative}}, title = {{Credit Where It's Due: Unearthing the Relationship Between Rural Credit Subsidies and Deforestation}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2024}, month = jul, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/credit-where-its-due-unearthing-the-relationship-between-rural-credit-subsidies-and-deforestation/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }