Friends of the Earth International statement

Friends of the Earth International issued a statement rejecting the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS), arguing that its certification process provides a "façade of sustainability" for agribusinesses and energy companies while failing to address the systemic social and environmental damage caused by industrial-scale soy monocultures.

• Friends of the Earth International asserts that soy monocultures cause severe environmental and social degradation, including the conversion of forests and savannahs, biodiversity loss, and human rights violations. These impacts include the forced displacement of local populations into cities, the poisoning of rural communities, and the displacement of staple food crops, which leads to rising food prices and diminished food security.
• The document claims that the RTRS promotes genetically modified (GM) soy as 'responsible' despite evidence of increased pesticide use. It cites anS a nearly 80% increase in RoundUp (glyphosate) use in Brazil from 2000 to 2005 and a 15-fold increase in the United States between 1994 and 2005, resulting in herbicide-resistant weeds and environmental pollution.
• The statement argues that the RTRS is a 'false solution' and a form of 'greenwash' because it ignores indirect impacts that occur outside individual farms, such as global warming and rural migration. It contends that the companies involved—including agribusinesses like Cargill, Bunge, and Archer Daniels Midland, and financial institutions like the IFC, ABM Amro, and Rabobank—have no interest in reducing soy production or consumption.
• The document identifies two primary drivers for the expected surge in soybean demand: the global increase in meat, eggs, and dairy consumption—with the FAO predicting a doubling of demand by 2050—and government goals in the EU, USA, and Brazil to deploy agricultural crops for power generation and transport fuel.
• Friends of the Earth International proposes several alternatives to the RTRS certification, including structural land reforms in producing countries, reducing meat and dairy consumption in importing countries, substituting soy in animal feed with local protein crops, and ending the promotion of large-scale agrofuel production.

APA

Friends of the Earth International (2008). Friends of the Earth International statement. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/FoEI-RTRS.pdf

Chicago

Friends of the Earth International. Friends of the Earth International statement. 2008. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/FoEI-RTRS.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Friends of the Earth International |title=Friends of the Earth International statement |date=22 April 2008 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/FoEI-RTRS.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{friendsoftheearthinternational2008friends, author = {{Friends of the Earth International}}, title = {{Friends of the Earth International statement}}, publisher = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2008}, month = apr, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/FoEI-RTRS.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }