me_deforestation_eu_english_r8-5cfd900a927e5656.pdf

The report documents the link between European meat consumption and the destruction of the Gran Chaco ecosystem in Argentina and Paraguay. It highlights how major agribusiness traders, specifically Cargill and Bunge, facilitate the expansion of industrial soy monocultures, leading to illegal deforestation, biodiversity loss, and severe health impacts on local communities due to glyphosate use. The document argues that this destruction is avoidable through the use of degraded lands and the implementation of traceability systems similar to the Brazilian Soy Moratorium.

• The European Union is a major driver of soy-related deforestation in Latin America, importing 27.8 million tons of soy from the region in 2016 to support its dairy, egg, pork, poultry, and beef production.
• The Gran Chaco ecosystem, spanning Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay, is experiencing extreme deforestation rates that match or exceed those of the Amazon rainforest, with over eight million hectares cleared in twelve years.
• Major agribusiness traders Cargill and Bunge are identified as primary forces behind deforestation in the Gran Chaco, despite public commitments to zero-deforestation, due to a lack of supply chain traceability.
• The use of glyphosate in soy monocultures has led to severe health crises in the Gran Chaco, including increased cancer rates—exceeding 30% of deaths in soy-growing areas compared to 19% nationally in Argentina—and birth defects.
• Indigenous communities, such as the Y’apó in Paraguay, face violent land grabs and human rights violations, including assaults by armed security guards hired by soy farms.
• Deforestation for soy is avoidable as there are over 650 million hectares of previously cleared land in Latin America suitable for agriculture, and monitoring systems for the Gran Chaco would cost between $750,000 and $1,000,000 to establish.

APA

Mighty Earth (n.d.). me_deforestation_eu_english_r8-5cfd900a927e5656.pdf. https://www.mightyearth.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ME_DEFORESTATION_EU_English_R8.pdf

Chicago

Mighty Earth. me_deforestation_eu_english_r8-5cfd900a927e5656.pdf. n.d. https://www.mightyearth.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ME_DEFORESTATION_EU_English_R8.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Mighty Earth |title=me_deforestation_eu_english_r8-5cfd900a927e5656.pdf |url=https://www.mightyearth.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ME_DEFORESTATION_EU_English_R8.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mightyearthndmedeforestationeuenglishr85cfd900a927e5656pdf, author = {{Mighty Earth}}, title = {{me\_deforestation\_eu\_english\_r8-5cfd900a927e5656.pdf}}, institution = {Mighty Earth}, url = {https://www.mightyearth.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ME_DEFORESTATION_EU_English_R8.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }