CAR a CAR: A Relação Entre o Crédito Rural Subsidiado e o Desmatamento

The report finds that 31% of properties that deforested in Brazil between 2020 and 2022 accessed subsidized rural credit, receiving an average of R$ 14 billion annually. This deforestation is highly concentrated in large properties, with the largest 5% of credit recipients accounting for 74% of the associated vegetation loss. The Cerrado biome is the most affected, containing 50% of the deforestation associated with subsidized credit. The authors argue that current restrictions, such as environmental embargos, are insufficient as less than 5% of new deforestation areas were embarged. They recommend that subsidized credit be granted exclusively to properties without any deforestation, regardless of the legality of the suppression.

• Between 2020 and 2022, approximately 31% of properties that engaged in deforestation accessed subsidized rural credit, receiving an average of R$ 14 billion per year, which represents 15% of the total volume of subsidized credit.
• Deforestation among subsidized credit recipients is heavily concentrated in large-scale operations; the average area of properties that both receive subsidized credit and deforest is nearly ten times larger than those that receive credit but do not deforest.
• A very small number of the largest properties are responsible for the vast majority of deforestation linked to subsidized credit: the largest 5% of these properties account for 74% of the vegetation loss, while the largest 20% account for 92%.
• The Cerrado biome shows the strongest link between subsidized credit and deforestation, accounting for 50% of the deforestation associated with subsidized credit and 47% of the subsidized credit associated with deforestation.
• Existing credit restrictions based on environmental embargos are largely ineffective because a small fraction of deforested areas are actually embarged; between 2020 and 2022, only 939 properties had active embargos out of an average of 64,747 properties that both deforested and took subsidized credit.

APA

Mourão, J., Stussi, M., & Souza, P. (2024). CAR a CAR: A Relação Entre o Crédito Rural Subsidiado e o Desmatamento. Climate Policy Initiative. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/CAR-a-CAR-A-Relacao-Entre-o-Credito-Rural-Subsidiado-e-o-Desmatamento.pdf

Chicago

Mourão, João, Mariana Stussi, and Priscila Souza. CAR a CAR: A Relação Entre o Crédito Rural Subsidiado e o Desmatamento. Climate Policy Initiative, 2024. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/CAR-a-CAR-A-Relacao-Entre-o-Credito-Rural-Subsidiado-e-o-Desmatamento.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mourão |first1=João |last2=Stussi |first2=Mariana |last3=Souza |first3=Priscila |title=CAR a CAR: A Relação Entre o Crédito Rural Subsidiado e o Desmatamento |publisher=Climate Policy Initiative |date=July 2024 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/CAR-a-CAR-A-Relacao-Entre-o-Credito-Rural-Subsidiado-e-o-Desmatamento.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mouro2024car, author = {Mourão, João and Stussi, Mariana and Souza, Priscila}, title = {{CAR a CAR: A Relação Entre o Crédito Rural Subsidiado e o Desmatamento}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2024}, month = jul, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/CAR-a-CAR-A-Relacao-Entre-o-Credito-Rural-Subsidiado-e-o-Desmatamento.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }