CEO Note: There goes the Amazon Soy Moratorium

The Amazon Soy Moratorium, which prevented the purchase of soy from land deforested after July 2008, has collapsed after more than twenty companies, including ADM, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus, withdrew. This policy previously saved 17,000 square kilometres of rainforest in its first decade and allowed the soy industry to expand by over six million acres in the Brazilian Amazon by using previously converted lands. The author warns that the collapse could expose 3 million acres of forest to deforestation and increase Amazon deforestation by up to 30% by 2045, contradicting corporate pledges to eliminate ecosystem destruction. The text criticizes retailers like Sainsbury’s and E.Leclerc for failing to impose commercial consequences on the traders responsible.

• The Amazon Soy Moratorium was a successful sustainability effort that saved 17,000 square kilometres of Amazon rainforest during its first ten years and enabled the soy industry to expand by more than six million acres in the Brazilian Amazon by utilizing previously converted lands.
• The withdrawal of over twenty key companies—specifically ADM, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus—from the moratorium may lead to the deforestation of 3 million acres of forest for soy and a potential 30% increase in Amazon deforestation by 2045.
• The abandonment of the moratorium contradicts pledges by these companies and their customers to end the destruction of native ecosystems in supply chains by the end of 2025, and undermines Brazil's climate targets.

APA

Hurowitz, G. (2026). CEO Note: There goes the Amazon Soy Moratorium. Mighty Earth. https://mightyearth.org/article/ceo-note-there-goes-the-amazon-soy-moratorium/

Chicago

Hurowitz, Glenn. CEO Note: There goes the Amazon Soy Moratorium. Mighty Earth, 2026. https://mightyearth.org/article/ceo-note-there-goes-the-amazon-soy-moratorium/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Hurowitz |first1=Glenn |title=CEO Note: There goes the Amazon Soy Moratorium |publisher=Mighty Earth |date=10 January 2026 |url=https://mightyearth.org/article/ceo-note-there-goes-the-amazon-soy-moratorium/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{hurowitz2026ceo, author = {Hurowitz, Glenn}, title = {{CEO Note: There goes the Amazon Soy Moratorium}}, publisher = {Mighty Earth}, year = {2026}, month = jan, url = {https://mightyearth.org/article/ceo-note-there-goes-the-amazon-soy-moratorium/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }