How Brazilian beef companies and their international financiers greenwash their links to Amazon deforestation

A Global Witness investigation reveals that JBS, Marfrig, and Minerva purchased cattle from 379 ranches in Pará state between 2017 and 2019 that contained illegal deforestation, totaling over 20,000 football fields of cleared land. The report argues that these companies greenwash their operations through deficient audits by DNV-GL and Grant Thornton, which claimed compliance with no-deforestation pledges despite evidence to the contrary. Furthermore, the document highlights the role of international financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank, Santander, and HSBC, in providing billions in loans and investments to these firms. It also documents links between the beef supply chain and human rights abuses, including land-grabbing and violence against indigenous and landless peoples in areas like Apyterewa. The report concludes that voluntary private sector policies have failed and calls for mandatory due diligence laws in the UK and EU to prevent complicity in Amazon destruction.

• Between 2017 and 2019, the beef companies JBS, Marfrig, and Minerva bought cattle from 379 ranches in Pará state that contained illegal deforestation, covering an area equivalent to 20,000 football fields.
• The three companies failed to monitor at least 4,000 indirect suppliers, which contained approximately 140,000 football fields of deforestation, violating their legal and voluntary obligations.
• Audits conducted by DNV-GL and Grant Thornton are described as deficient, as they claimed the companies were compliant with no-deforestation pledges while failing to detect numerous cases of sourcing from deforested areas.
• Major international financial institutions provided over $9 billion in loans and investments to JBS, Marfrig, and Minerva between 2017 and 2019, with 41% originating from the US and EU.
• The beef supply chain is linked to severe human rights abuses, including land-grabbing and violence against landless peoples and indigenous groups, such as the Parakanã in Apyterewa.
• Credit rating agencies including Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch have upgraded the ratings of JBS and Marfrig without sufficiently considering or mentioning their links to Amazon deforestation.
• The report argues that voluntary no-deforestation policies are insufficient and that governments in the UK and EU should introduce mandatory due diligence laws to require businesses and financiers to remove deforestation from their supply chains.

APA

Global Witness (2020). How Brazilian beef companies and their international financiers greenwash their links to Amazon deforestation. https://gw.cdn.ngo/media/documents/Beef_Banks_and_the_Brazilian_Amazon_EN_-_December_2020_medium_res.pdf

Chicago

Global Witness. How Brazilian beef companies and their international financiers greenwash their links to Amazon deforestation. 2020. https://gw.cdn.ngo/media/documents/Beef_Banks_and_the_Brazilian_Amazon_EN_-_December_2020_medium_res.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Witness |title=How Brazilian beef companies and their international financiers greenwash their links to Amazon deforestation |date=December 2020 |url=https://gw.cdn.ngo/media/documents/Beef_Banks_and_the_Brazilian_Amazon_EN_-_December_2020_medium_res.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalwitness2020how, author = {{Global Witness}}, title = {{How Brazilian beef companies and their international financiers greenwash their links to Amazon deforestation}}, institution = {Global Witness}, year = {2020}, month = dec, url = {https://gw.cdn.ngo/media/documents/Beef_Banks_and_the_Brazilian_Amazon_EN_-_December_2020_medium_res.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }