CEO Note: Undoing the Soy Moratorium

The Brazilian competition authority (Cade) has suspended the Amazon Soy Moratorium, a voluntary agreement where soy and animal feed companies pledged not to buy soybeans from areas deforested in the Amazon after 2008. The author contends that the moratorium was an economic and environmental success, saving an estimated 18,000 square kilometers in its first decade while allowing agricultural expansion onto previously degraded lands. The document asserts that the suspension, driven by meat and feed industry lobbyists, is illegal under the Brazilian Constitution's principle of environmental protection. Mighty Earth intends to pressure retail sellers of meat to ensure commercial consequences for deforestation and advocates for a shift toward alternative proteins.

• The Amazon Soy Moratorium, which prohibited the purchase of soybeans from areas deforested in the Amazon after 2008, saved approximately 18,000 square kilometers of habitat during its first ten years.
• The moratorium allowed for agricultural growth without increasing deforestation, with soy planting in the Brazilian Amazon increasing by over 6 million acres by utilizing previously deforested and degraded lands.
• The Brazilian competition authority, Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (Cade), suspended the moratorium following pressure from meat and feed industry lobbyists.
• Brazil's Environment Ministry argues that the prohibition of the moratorium is illegal because the 1988 Federal Constitution mandates environmental protection alongside free competition.

APA

Jones, S. (2025). CEO Note: Undoing the Soy Moratorium. Mighty Earth. https://mightyearth.org/article/ceo-note-undoing-the-soy-moratorium/

Chicago

Jones, Sydney. CEO Note: Undoing the Soy Moratorium. Mighty Earth, 2025. https://mightyearth.org/article/ceo-note-undoing-the-soy-moratorium/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Jones |first1=Sydney |title=CEO Note: Undoing the Soy Moratorium |publisher=Mighty Earth |date=25 August 2025 |url=https://mightyearth.org/article/ceo-note-undoing-the-soy-moratorium/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{jones2025ceo, author = {Jones, Sydney}, title = {{CEO Note: Undoing the Soy Moratorium}}, publisher = {Mighty Earth}, year = {2025}, month = aug, url = {https://mightyearth.org/article/ceo-note-undoing-the-soy-moratorium/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }