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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 policy brief analyzes the socio-economic and environmental vulnerabilities of Latin America exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It argues that traditional economic reactivation measures risk perpetuating structural crises and instead proposes a 'just and resilient recovery' based on four principles: climate action, decent employment, social inclusion, and long-term financing. The document outlines four priorities for governments: applying the 'no-regression' principle to avoid environmental deregulation, ensuring short-term measures align with long-term sustainability, maximizing investment in strategic sustainable sectors (such as renewable energy and regenerative agriculture), and increasing systemic resilience through economic diversification and new progress indicators beyond GDP.

The policy brief argues that the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the critical link between ecosystem health and human health, asserting that ecological degradation and wildlife trade are root causes of zoonotic spillover. It proposes a five-part framework for policymakers: halting ecosystem loss, reforming livestock production, regulating commercial wildlife trade, safeguarding existing conservation investments, and implementing cross-cutting 'nature-positive' economic recovery strategies. The authors emphasize that protecting nature is a cost-effective tool for both public health and financial recovery, potentially creating millions of jobs by 2030.

The document argues that the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the critical link between ecosystem health and human health, urging a recovery strategy that prioritizes the protection and restoration of nature to mitigate the risk of future zoonotic diseases.

The document argues that the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the critical link between ecosystem health and human health, urging policymakers to adopt nature-based solutions for both pandemic prevention and economic recovery. It recommends ending ecosystem degradation, reforming livestock production, regulating wildlife trade, and ensuring that economic stimulus packages include green conditionalities to avoid further environmental damage.

The Changing Markets Foundation's letter to Danone highlights a global trend of corporations undermining plastic legislation and critiques Danone's lack of transparency regarding reuse systems and sustainability criteria for bio-plastics, while acknowledging its support for mandatory collection systems.

The Changing Markets Foundation writes to Nestlé's CEO, Ulf Mark Schneider, regarding the company's role as a major plastic polluter and its failure to meet recycling and recycled content targets. The letter argues that Nestlé's voluntary commitments often lack specificity and accountability, and urges the company to support mandatory legislative solutions, such as global Deposit Return Systems (DRS), and to be transparent about its full plastic footprint.

The Changing Markets Foundation criticizes PepsiCo for its lack of support for mandatory plastic legislation, its failure to meet recycled content targets, and its reliance on 'climate-unfriendly' chemical recycling. The letter demands that PepsiCo publicly support deposit return systems, increase transparency regarding its plastic footprint, and commit to meaningful reductions in single-use plastics.

The update reports that Halcyon Agri has ceased deforestation in Cameroon and implemented a global No Deforestation policy. Key progress includes the establishment of the Cameroon Sustainability Council, the creation of grievance mechanisms for legacy and new issues, and the development of water treatment systems targeting zero effluent at the Sudcam factory. However, a July 2020 latex spill near Kribi highlighted remaining gaps in company responsiveness and transparency. Halcyon has also improved its global ESG transparency, ranking second in the ZSL SPOTT rubber commodity ranking with a score of 69.6%.

The document reports that Halcyon Agri has ceased deforestation in Cameroon and implemented a global zero-deforestation policy. Key progress includes the establishment of a multi-level Cameroonian Council for Sustainable Development and the creation of a grievance mechanism to address community land claims. However, challenges remain, such as a recent latex spill near Kribi and the need for further progress on indigenous rights and employment equity. The company is also transitioning to closed-circuit water treatment systems and improving supply chain transparency through the ZSL SPOTT tool.

Mighty Earth defends its role in supporting Indonesia's deforestation reductions and expresses concern that provisions of the Omnibus Law may undermine these environmental and economic successes.

Mighty Earth defends its role in supporting Indonesia's environmental goals and expresses concern that certain provisions of the recently passed Omnibus Law could jeopardize the country's progress in reducing deforestation and protecting biodiversity.

Brazil is characterized as a global leader in renewable energy and a sophisticated nuclear actor, yet it faces severe systemic risks. The country is pursuing a nuclear-powered submarine program while managing rising deforestation in the Amazon and significant climate threats, including projected temperature increases of 1°C to 2.2°C by 2060. These environmental stressors intersect with deep socioeconomic inequality, a fragile healthcare system strained by COVID-19, and political instability marked by a shift toward authoritarianism and widespread corruption. The document argues that the intersection of these climate, health, and political crises could undermine Brazil's stability and its role in the international order.

The document advocates for a shift toward 'planet-based diets' to reduce the environmental footprint of the global food system, which is identified as a major driver of greenhouse gas emissions and habitat loss. It outlines five strategies for individuals: choosing sustainable ingredients, balancing animal protein intake with plant-based foods, diversifying crop and nutrient intake, prioritizing minimally processed foods, and reducing food waste. The guide emphasizes that these dietary shifts should be flexible to accommodate local cultures, budgets, and nutritional needs.

Mighty Earth claims that JBS is using 'PR spin' to mask a lack of progress in its deforestation commitments. The organization asserts that JBS only monitors a small portion of its supply chain in the Amazon, ignoring the Brazilian Cerrado and legal deforestation, while failing to enforce existing policies against non-compliant suppliers.

The report highlights a critical gap in Brazil's Feasibility Studies (EVTEA) and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), which often ignore indirect environmental effects of transportation projects. Using a 'market access' approach, the authors demonstrate that infrastructure improvements can drive deforestation far from the project site by reducing freight costs and incentivizing agricultural expansion. For example, while the Ferrogrão railroad may reduce direct carbon emissions, its indirect impact is estimated to increase deforestation by 2,000 km², releasing over 60 million tCOe. The report recommends that policymakers use geoprocessing and statistical tools to identify these broader areas of influence to ensure sustainable infrastructure development.

The whitepaper highlights a critical gap in how Brazil assesses the environmental impact of transport infrastructure, specifically the failure of Technical, Economic, and Environmental Feasibility Studies (EVTEA) and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) to account for indirect effects. It proposes a 'market access' approach, combining geoprocessing and statistical analysis, to quantify how reduced transport costs induce agricultural expansion and deforestation far from the actual project site. Using the Ferrogrão railroad as an example, the authors demonstrate that indirect carbon costs can vastly outweigh direct emissions reductions. The document recommends that EVTEAs and EIAs adopt robust methodologies to identify both direct and indirect areas of influence to ensure sustainable infrastructure development.

The report examines the global soybean market, noting that production is highly concentrated in the US, Brazil, and Argentina, with demand driven by meat consumption and Asia. It highlights significant environmental and social risks, including deforestation in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes and the use of GM crops. While voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) aim to mitigate these risks, their adoption remains low, representing only 1.8% of global production in 2018. The report identifies potential for VSS growth in LHDCs like Nigeria and Benin, though challenges such as mechanization and market competition persist.

The report critiques common climate scenarios, such as the IEA's Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS), for underestimating emissions and overestimating carbon capture to justify continued fossil fuel use. It argues that these scenarios often lead to warming above 2°C despite claims of alignment with the Paris Agreement. The author calls for a rapid phase-out of fossil fuel financing by 2040 in Europe and 2050 globally.

The document identifies five 'traps' in climate scenarios—including the omission of non-combustion emissions, reliance on unproven negative emissions technologies, and underestimation of renewable energy—that lead to warming above 2°C. It specifically criticizes the IEA's Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS) and NGFS 'representative' scenarios for facilitating continued fossil fuel expansion. The author calls for financial actors to phase out fossil fuel financing by 2040 in Europe and 2050 globally.