Brazil’s Largest Companies Demand End to Amazon Deforestation

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – Leaders of some of Brazil’s largest companies as well as multinationals with offices in the country, have delivered a ‘manifesto’ to Vice-President Hamilton Mourão, stating their concern about the lack of swift action on the part of the Brazilian government in relation to the deforestation of the Amazon Forest.

“In particular, this group follows with greater attention and concern the impact on business of the current negative perception of Brazil’s image abroad in relation to socio-environmental issues in the Amazon,” says the letter sent to Mourão on Monday.

“This negative perception has an enormous potential for prejudice for Brazil, not only from the point of view of its reputation, but in an effective way for the development of business and fundamental projects for the country,” continues the letter, which on Tuesday was sent to the country’s Supreme Court and the presidents of both Congressional houses.

The signatories include the CEOs of thirty-eight of the largest companies, Brazilian- and foreign-owned, installed in the country, including Ambev, Vale, Alcoa, Natura and Cargill.
Four agribusiness, financial and industry sector associations, including the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS), a trade group of 60 large conglomerates from Brazil or having business interests in the country.

“The imbalance in the economic, social and environmental tripod can generate immense financial losses for companies, either with exports, or with reputation. It is necessary for the federal government to give guarantees to the Brazilian business sector that some of the actions and commitments that we are presenting will come out of the paper,” said CEBDS’ President Marina Grossi, in her social media account on Tuesday.

In the document, these CEOs reaffirm their commitment with sustainable development and list the areas of action they consider fundamental: from an “inflexible and broad” fight against illegal deforestation in the Amazon and other Brazilian biomes, to inclusion efforts for local communities and valuing biodiversity.

“We need to make the right choices now and start redirecting investments to face and recover the Brazilian economy in a circular, low-carbon, and inclusive economy model, in which there is no controversy between producing and preserving. In our understanding, this is the best way to lay the foundations of the country for the next generations. Otherwise, we run the risk of being left out of our own history,” notes the group.

For Suzano Papel and Celulose CEO, Walter Schalka, the letter to Vice-President Mourão, who is chairman of the recently created National Council of the Amazon, “is a call on the nation to wake up to this opportunity.”

According to these corporate leaders, Brazil has a “unique opportunity, resources, and knowledge to scale good practices and, more than that, strategically plan the country’s sustainable futures.”

At least five of the signatories are companies in the agribusiness sector.

“We have watched a shift, with traditional agribusiness completely moving away from past deforestation. But the connection with agribusiness remains very strong,” Marcello Brito, chairman of the Brazilian Agribusiness Association (Abag), one of the sector associations signing the manifesto, told Valor.

It is the first time, under the Bolsonaro presidency, that business leaders speak up collectively and request effective socio-environmental actions from the federal government.

The‘manifesto comes less than a month after a letter signed by 29 financial institutions, managing US$3.7 trillion in assets in Brazil, advised that the country must curb deforestation or face possible reduction in much needed investments. According to business daily, Valor Economico, the list has grown to 32 investors with assets worth US$4.5 trillion.

In the beginning of June, the Dutch Parliament approved a motion against the trade agreement being negotiated between Mercosur and the European Union, citing as one of the reasons the deforestation in the Amazon region.

Pressure from both foreign and Brazilian investors seems to have caught the attention of the Bolsonaro administration. Local media report that a meeting aimed to “unify and standardize the Brazilian government’s speech” after the warning by foreign investors, was scheduled to take place Tuesday afternoon.

Among those expected to attend were Ministers Walter Braga Netto (Chief of Staff), Ernesto Araújo, (Foreign Relations), Tereza Cristina Corrêa da Costa Dias (Agriculture), Fábio Faria, (Communications), Ricardo Salles, (Environment), as well as Central Bank president, Roberto Campos Neto and Sergio Ricardo Segovia, President of the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil).

The country’s lawmakers are also seeking answers to the deforestation issue. On Tuesday, July 7th, Brazil’s Senate approved an invitation to Vice President Mourão to testify in the Upper House next week, so that he could provide information on the Amazon region.

“I think it will be a great debate, for the vice president to clarify the actions of the plan to combat deforestation in the Amazon and, at the same time, what contributions we can make so that the actions can be effective,” said Senator Eliziane Gama (PPS-MA).

Deforestation in the Amazon increased 34.4 percent in the period between August 2018 and July 2019, compared to the previous twelve months, totaling 10,129 square km, according to data from the National Space Research Institute (INPE). The entity says that the period registered the highest annual deforestation since 2008.