Lhe election of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as President of Brazil presents French companies working with Brazil with unprecedented momentum. Indeed, while it is estimated that deforestation in the Amazon could decrease by 89%, during the next decade under the impetus of the new president, political will alone will not be enough.
To meet the enormous challenge of reversing the harmful policies of Jair Bolsonaro and stopping deforestation, we must be able to count on the full involvement of the private sector, as has been the case in the past with in particular the commitment of companies to respect the moratorium in the Amazon linked to the exploitation of soybeans.
Economic actors have a crucial role to play in this transition. They have the capacity to have a real impact on stopping the race to deforestation, as was the case in Southeast Asia. Following the interpellation of palm oil operators by NGOs, the latter have implemented robust “zero deforestation” policies, with, among other things, public monitoring systems and strong transparency. The results are there with a deforestation rate at its lowest for twenty years in indonesia.
Will it be the same in Brazil, the first country affected by deforestation? Among these economic players, the French distributors present in Brazil play a major role in the “local meat” sector. However, Carrefour and Casino, the two main supermarkets in the country, which sell meat locally, still cannot ensure that their “beef” products are not from deforestation.
Casino, Carrefour, LDC
The Casino group, a major partner of theUniversity of the earth at Unescois the subject of a legal action on the basis of the French law of the duty of vigilance concerning the impact of its sales of “beef” products on deforestation in Brazil and Colombia. In Colombia, a recent study recalls that the Casino group has problems with the traceability and control of indirect suppliers of beef that would be linked to the deforestation of a national park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
French companies must do their part against deforestation in Brazil.
Carrefour, the leading meat distributor in Brazil, and also a “premium” sponsor of the 2024 Olympic Games, is far from living up to its environmental communications by committing to eliminating deforestation in its “beef” products only by 2030! Worse, the group does not respect its own commitments by proposing, according to a survey by Mighty Earthstill today meat products from slaughterhouses supposedly suspended due to deforestation in indigenous territories, and from which he had publicly committed to no longer obtain supplies.
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