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Global Witness reports that Fabrizio Nuti, head of LVMH-owned Nuti Ivo and leader of the UNIC and COTANCE industry associations, is leading a campaign to exempt leather from the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). The report alleges that Nuti's separate Paraguayan tannery, Lecom/Parpelli, sources hides from meat giants Minerva Foods and Frigorífico Concepción, which are linked to the deforestation of approximately 111,000 hectares in the Gran Chaco, including lands of the Indigenous Ayoreo Totobiegosode People. Despite LVMH's public zero-deforestation targets, the report finds that Nuti Ivo's Conceria Everest imported hides from Lecom/Parpelli as recently as December 2025, and that Nuti Ivo can only trace 45% of its hides to a specific slaughterhouse.

The report finds that nominee companies, primarily branches of major global banks, mask the ownership of fossil fuel assets in Australia, obscuring approximately 18% of the national fossil fuel CO2 emissions. It highlights that these structures allow investors, including superannuation funds, to maintain stakes in high-emitting projects while avoiding public scrutiny, and notes that Australian law currently lacks regulations to require the disclosure of the actual shareholders behind these nominees.

Mighty Earth has launched a campaign following investigations that revealed the destruction of 100,000 acres of orangutan habitat and Indigenous Dayak forest in Indonesia. The report identifies American RV manufacturers, including Winnebago, Thor Inc., and Forest River, as consumers of meranti wood sourced from suppliers Mayawana Persada and Alas Kusuma, who were found excavating peat in violation of Indonesian law. While Indonesia has reduced commercial deforestation by approximately 90%, this case highlights ongoing evasion of forest protections. Following public scrutiny, the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry ordered the responsible company to halt its bulldozers.

A Global Witness investigation reveals that 17 of the world's least developed countries and largest US aid recipients have signed lobbying contracts worth over $21 million since November 2024. The report highlights a trend where nations facing humanitarian crises and aid freezes—such as Pakistan, the DRC, and Somalia—are bartering preferential access to critical minerals, oil, gas, and strategic ports for US political or military assistance. Many of these deals involve firms and individuals closely linked to Donald Trump's inner circle, creating a transactional 'America First' dynamic that Global Witness argues risks resource exploitation in fragile, conflict-affected states.

The report details the expansion of 'Big Oil' companies like Shell and BP into the solar energy sector in Southern Europe. It highlights a pattern of using intermediary shell companies to acquire agricultural land and bypass environmental scrutiny and community participation. The authors argue that this 'extractive' model of the energy transition prioritizes corporate profit over food sovereignty and democratic engagement, while noting that Italy could meet its solar targets using rooftops and degraded land rather than fertile fields.

The report characterizes "advanced recycling" as a rebranding of chemical recycling, asserting that the plastics industry uses the term to greenwash its image and avoid regulations on virgin plastic production. It argues that chemical recycling is not a new technology, is economically unviable, cannot effectively process mixed post-consumer waste, and has a higher environmental footprint than mechanical recycling. The document further claims that the industry uses deceptive "mass balance" accounting to create a false appearance of circularity while primarily producing fuels rather than new plastics.

Global Witness reports that Veolia may be causing severe health complications, including congenital malformations, by pumping toxic leachates from a landfill into a protected Colombian wetland. Secret videos and sediment tests showing mercury levels 25 times higher than safe Canadian limits contradict Veolia's claims of environmental compliance. The contamination threatens the drinking water of 300,000 people in Barrancabermeja and impacts the Ciénaga San Silvestre ecosystem. The report also highlights the danger faced by environmental defenders in the region and argues for the strength of the EU's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) to hold multinationals accountable.

Global Witness reports that Veolia is discharging untreated toxic leachate from a landfill into protected wetlands in Colombia, with sediment analysis showing mercury levels 25 times higher than safety limits. The report links this pollution to congenital malformations in the local population and the degradation of the San Silvestre swamp, which provides drinking water for up to 300,000 people in Barrancabermeja. While Veolia denies causality and claims its internal controls show no mercury, independent experts argue the company's sampling methods were flawed. The document also highlights the extreme danger faced by environmental defenders in the Santander region and argues that the EU's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive is essential for holding such companies accountable.

The report documents how at least 39 oil and gas companies and 12 industry-tied organizations influence Canadian school curricula through direct sponsorship, government partnerships, and funding of third-party nonprofits. It identifies 'petro-pedagogy' strategies—such as 'bias-balancing,' greenwashing, and a focus on individual rather than systemic action—designed to obscure the industry's role in driving climate change and delay the energy transition. The authors recommend that federal and provincial governments prohibit fossil fuel sponsorship in schools, mandate comprehensive climate justice education, and provide public funding for teacher training and resources to ensure education is free from corporate conflicts of interest.

The report details how Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund known for stripping local newspapers, has expanded into manufactured housing. Through its affiliate Homes of America, the firm has acquired over 10,000 lots in 138 parks across 17 states, spending over $275 million. The document argues that Alden employs a 'strip and flip' model, characterized by aggressive rent increases, high eviction rates, and the neglect of property maintenance to maximize profits. It highlights specific cases of resident displacement and financial abuse, particularly in Florida, and calls for state and federal policy interventions to protect vulnerable residents.

Global Witness tested the ad review processes of TikTok, YouTube, and X by submitting 16 advertisements containing election disinformation targeted at Ireland. TikTok approved 100% of the disinformation ads, while YouTube approved 12.5% and X approved none. The report argues that TikTok's failure violates its own community guidelines and the EU's Digital Services Act, which requires platforms to mitigate systemic risks to elections. TikTok attributed the failure to 'human error on the part of one moderator'.

The report details how the plastics industry promoted recycling as a false solution to plastic waste despite knowing it was technically and economically unviable. It outlines a history of industry tactics, from promoting disposability in the 1950s to the current promotion of 'advanced recycling' as a means to avoid bans and maintain virgin plastic production.

Global Witness reports that the rush for lithium in Africa is characterized by corruption and ESG failures. In Zimbabwe, the Sandawana mine is linked to sanctioned elites and ZANU-PF allies, with reports of child labour and illegal exports. In Namibia, Xinfeng Investments is accused of bribery and using small-scale mining permits to avoid environmental assessments. In the DRC, the Manono project is stalled by ownership disputes and allegations that shell companies and politically connected individuals profited from the deposit while the state treasury received negligible funds.

The report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) examines the status of Pterocarpus erinaceus (rosewood) trade in West Africa following a March 2022 CITES trade suspension. While international trafficking has slowed, the authors find that illegal logging persists in countries like Mali, Ghana, the Gambia, and Nigeria, often facilitated by corrupt officials. The report specifically criticizes Sierra Leone's request to export 160,000 cubic meters of stockpiled timber without a sustainable export quota and Mali's approved Non-Detriment Finding (NDF), which the authors claim is based on outdated or biased data and ignores critical environmental pressures. The document concludes that lifting the suspension for any country would undermine regional conservation efforts and risk a return to unsustainable 'boom and bust' logging cycles.

The report argues that the IFC continues to support coal development in Asia by investing in financial intermediaries, most notably the Postal Savings Bank of China. This mechanism allows the IFC to bypass its public commitments to halt coal financing, resulting in indirect support for 68.3 GW of coal-fired power capacity across China, Indonesia, and Cambodia. The document highlights the Jambi 2 project in Indonesia as a primary example of this 'loophole,' detailing the environmental and health impacts of coal mining and power generation on local communities in Jambi province.

Global Witness reports that Cargill has purchased soy from farms in Bolivia where over 20,000 hectares of forest were razed since 2017. The investigation highlights a systematic failure by Cargill to collect origin data for its soy supplies, undermining its 'deforestation-free' commitments. Furthermore, a leaked company map suggests Cargill may target areas that would put over three million hectares of forest at risk. The report also identifies several global banks, including Barclays, BNP Paribas, HSBC, and Santander, as providers of billions of dollars in financing to Cargill despite their own anti-deforestation pledges.

The investigation tracked 21 items of clothing submitted to ten fashion brands across the UK, France, Belgium, and Germany using airtag trackers. The findings reveal a significant gap between brand promises of reuse and recycling and the actual outcomes: 60% of items were either destroyed, downcycled, or remained stuck in warehouses, while others were shipped to African markets where they often become waste. Only five items were successfully resold within Europe. The report argues that these schemes often encourage further consumption through discount vouchers and lack transparency and traceability, effectively shifting the waste burden to the Global South.

The report reveals a significant gap between the sustainability claims of fast fashion brands and the reality of their take-back schemes. By tracking 21 high-quality items across Europe, the investigation found that many items were downcycled, destroyed, or shipped to African countries where they often end up in landfills, rather than being reused or recycled into new clothing.

The report details a series of corruption scandals involving Eni, specifically the OPL 245 deal in Nigeria and the 'Siracusa System' in Italy, where the company is accused of bribing officials and tampering with witnesses. Simultaneously, it highlights Eni's extensive lobbying efforts in the EU to promote fossil gas as a 'bridge fuel,' arguing that such influence is incompatible with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement. The document concludes by calling for a 'firewall' to end fossil fuel industry lobbying in EU policy-making, drawing parallels to the restrictions placed on the tobacco industry.

A Global Witness investigation reveals that JBS, Marfrig, and Minerva purchased cattle from 379 ranches in Pará state between 2017 and 2019 that contained illegal deforestation, totaling over 20,000 football fields of cleared land. The report argues that these companies greenwash their operations through deficient audits by DNV-GL and Grant Thornton, which claimed compliance with no-deforestation pledges despite evidence to the contrary. Furthermore, the document highlights the role of international financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank, Santander, and HSBC, in providing billions in loans and investments to these firms. It also documents links between the beef supply chain and human rights abuses, including land-grabbing and violence against indigenous and landless peoples in areas like Apyterewa. The report concludes that voluntary private sector policies have failed and calls for mandatory due diligence laws in the UK and EU to prevent complicity in Amazon destruction.