Measures for financial institutions to help stop soya-driven deforestation

The document highlights the role of the soya industry in driving deforestation in Brazil's Amazon and Cerrado regions, noting that tropical deforestation accounts for approximately 8% of global annual greenhouse gas emissions. It identifies the 'ABCD group' (ADM, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus) as key traders failing to prevent deforestation due to a lack of cut-off dates, standardized clauses, and traceability. The author urges financial institutions to require traders to implement a cut-off date no later than January 1, 2020, establish full traceability and independent monitoring, and respect indigenous human rights, threatening the suspension of financial services for non-compliance by January 1, 2022.

• Tropical deforestation is a significant driver of climate change, contributing roughly 8% of global annual greenhouse gas emissions, a figure exceeding the total emissions of the European Union.
• The Cerrado region in Brazil, the world's most biodiverse savannah, has lost 50% of its original area and stores 13.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide.
• The 'ABCD group' of soya traders—Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus—along with Amaggi and Cofco, represented 66% of the deforestation risk linked to soya expansion in 2017.
• Cargill and Bunge are identified as poor performers in mitigating deforestation risk; Cargill is linked to over 61,000 hectares of land clearance in Brazil over 18 months, while Bunge is linked to 38,000 hectares in the same period.
• Financial institutions are urged to require traders to adopt a cut-off date for deforestation no later than January 1, 2020, and to cease financial services to companies that cannot prove 100% conversion-free supply chains by January 1, 2022.

APA

admin (2021). Measures for financial institutions to help stop soya-driven deforestation. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2021/01/21/measures-for-financial-institutions-to-help-stop-soya-driven-deforestation/

Chicago

admin. Measures for financial institutions to help stop soya-driven deforestation. Reclaim Finance, 2021. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2021/01/21/measures-for-financial-institutions-to-help-stop-soya-driven-deforestation/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=admin |title=Measures for financial institutions to help stop soya-driven deforestation |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=21 January 2021 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2021/01/21/measures-for-financial-institutions-to-help-stop-soya-driven-deforestation/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{admin2021measures, author = {admin}, title = {{Measures for financial institutions to help stop soya-driven deforestation}}, publisher = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2021}, month = jan, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2021/01/21/measures-for-financial-institutions-to-help-stop-soya-driven-deforestation/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }