Eight of the world’s leading commodities traders have made a significant commitment to cease purchasing soy from farms that harm South American grasslands, reinforcing their prior promises to avoid suppliers involved in forest clearing. This landmark announcement was made during the COP28 climate summit.
This pledge holds immense potential for the conservation of the Cerrado, recognized as the world’s most biodiverse savanna, with over half of its land already converted for agricultural purposes. Agriculture, forestry, and land use collectively contribute to more than a fifth of global emissions responsible for planetary warming.
Among the notable firms participating in this initiative are Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus Company. They have collectively agreed to halt soy purchases from farms that contribute to the destruction of any non-forest natural vegetation in the Amazon rainforest, Chaco dry woodlands, or the Cerrado by the end of this decade, as stated by Petra Tanos from the Tropical Forest Alliance.
This commitment builds upon the sector’s prior promise to eradicate deforestation from their supply chains by 2025.
Tanos emphasized the significance of this move for the Cerrado, an agricultural frontier in Brazil that encompasses extensive grassland areas. Alarmingly, in 2023, Cerrado witnessed its highest level of destruction in eight years.
The Tropical Forest Alliance, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, collaborates with commodities firms to promote environmental commitments.
The primary soy-exporting nations are located in South America, where clearing natural vegetation for farming is a common practice.
Leading up to the United Nations COP28 climate summit in Dubai, some companies have made even more ambitious commitments. Last month, Cargill declared its intention to eliminate deforestation and land conversion in its supply chains in Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay by 2025. Archer Daniels Midland has also committed to ending land conversion by its direct suppliers by 2025 and indirect suppliers by 2027 across sensitive South American biomes.
However, it’s important to note that the industry has faced challenges in meeting previous commitments. In 2010, hundreds of consumer brands pledged to achieve “net zero” deforestation by 2020 but were unable to fulfill that goal.
