SOJA ET DÉFORESTATION : les acteurs financiers ne doivent plus être complices

The report highlights the environmental and social devastation caused by soy expansion in the Brazilian Cerrado, where 50% of the original area has been destroyed. It identifies a high concentration of market power in the 'ABCD' group of traders (ADM, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus), who control 56% of global exports. The authors criticize French banks—notably BNP Paribas, Société Générale, BPCE, Crédit Agricole, and Crédit Mutuel—for providing billions of dollars in financing to these traders despite voluntary climate commitments. The report calls for financial actors to mandate a 'cut-off date' of January 1, 2020, beyond which soy from converted lands is no longer accepted, and to implement full traceability and independent monitoring.

• The Brazilian Cerrado is a critical ecosystem that has already lost 50% of its original area, with 690,000 hectares of natural vegetation disappearing annually due to conversion for soy production.
• The conversion of the Cerrado's native vegetation into soy crops releases approximately 60 million tonnes of CO2 per year, which is equivalent to the annual emissions of 13 million cars.
• Global soy trade is highly concentrated among the 'ABCD' group (ADM, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus), which accounts for 56% of global exports; together with Amaggi and COFCO, they represented 66% of the deforestation risk linked to soy expansion in 2017.
• Between 2016 and 2019, five major French banks provided nearly 9.5 billion dollars in financing to the ABCD group, with BNP Paribas providing the largest share at 6 billion dollars.
• French financial actors also held 317 million dollars in shares and bonds of ABCD companies as of June 2020, primarily through Crédit Agricole, BPCE, BNP Paribas, and AXA.
• The report advocates for a 'cut-off date' of January 1, 2020, as a necessary measure to ensure that soy produced from converted natural ecosystems is no longer purchased by traders.

APA

Hernandez, A., Pinson, L., le Guenic, K., Angerand, S., & Larbi, L. (2020). SOJA ET DÉFORESTATION : les acteurs financiers ne doivent plus être complices. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Note_SojaDeforestation_LesActeursFinanciersNeDoiventPlusEtreComplices.pdf

Chicago

Hernandez, Andrea, Lucie Pinson, Klervi le Guenic, Sylvain Angerand, and Leyla Larbi. SOJA ET DÉFORESTATION : les acteurs financiers ne doivent plus être complices. Reclaim Finance, 2020. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Note_SojaDeforestation_LesActeursFinanciersNeDoiventPlusEtreComplices.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hernandez |first1=Andrea |last2=Pinson |first2=Lucie |last3=le Guenic |first3=Klervi |last4=Angerand |first4=Sylvain |last5=Larbi |first5=Leyla |title=SOJA ET DÉFORESTATION : les acteurs financiers ne doivent plus être complices |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=November 2020 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Note_SojaDeforestation_LesActeursFinanciersNeDoiventPlusEtreComplices.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hernandez2020soja, author = {Hernandez, Andrea and Pinson, Lucie and le Guenic, Klervi and Angerand, Sylvain and Larbi, Leyla}, title = {{SOJA ET DÉFORESTATION : les acteurs financiers ne doivent plus être complices}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2020}, month = nov, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Note_SojaDeforestation_LesActeursFinanciersNeDoiventPlusEtreComplices.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }