A global coalition of 10 environmental organisations has called for “collective action” to uphold the Amazon Soy Moratorium’s commitments and criteria.
The group, which includes NGOs Mighty Earth, Global Witness, Greenpeace Brazil and WWF-Brazil, have composed an open letter to soy end-users in key markets – including animal feed companies and retailers – to take action against major soy traders following their withdrawal from the voluntary pact at the start of January.
Brazilian vegetable oil industry body Abiove, alongside its members Cargill, Bunge, ADM, LDC, COFCO and Amaggi pulled out of the moratorium at the turn of the year.
The 2006 agreement has restricted the sale of soybeans grown in deforested areas of the Amazon biome since it came into full effect in 2008.
The withdrawal follows recent policy changes in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, which removed tax incentives for new project investments with environmental criteria considered to be beyond Brazil’s legislation, according to Mighty Earth.
Abiove said national regulations would fulfil the same goals of the moratorium, “as well as the Brazilian Forest Code, which ensures Brazilian soy maintains its high socio-environmental standards”.
However, the move has been met with dismay by campaigners, including the Retail Soy Group – which counts major UK retailers among its membership. It warned last month it could cut ties with the traders unless they can prove, by 16 February, that their existing climate and deforestation commitments remained unchanged, and whether the soy traders would continue to respect the ASM policy to avoid sourcing deforestation-linked soy.
The ASM’s collapse would “trigger significant direct and indirect deforestation, threatening biodiversity, climate stability and rural livelihoods”, the open letter warned.
“It would also accelerate climate crises and hamper soy users from reaching their anti-deforestation commitments and climate targets.”
Read more: Supermarkets threaten to cut ties with soy traders over Amazon Soy Moratorium withdrawal
The ASM was a “valuable tool that helps set the standards increasingly expected by key legislation such as the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), supporting businesses to meet their due diligence obligations and reduce deforestation risk in soy supply chains”, the campaigners said.
“For years, soy buyers and financial institutions have supported the ASM by delegating its implementation to traders, effectively taking the mechanism for granted.” But as a result, it had been left vulnerable to shifts in political will and had been insufficiently supported to evolve and become formalised, limiting its ability to ensure long-term forest protection while supporting broader landscape-level incentives.
“That moment has passed,” the letter added. “Leadership now requires buyers to state clearly what they will and will not accept in their supply chains. We signatories of this letter will be monitoring this closely.”
The campaigners are calling on all soy end-users to “demonstrate leadership and urgency”, by continuing to uphold ASM commitments and reaffirming they will not accept animal products linked to soy-driven Amazon deforestation.
Companies should also “clearly integrate into company policy the 2008 deforestation cut-off date, full farm-level traceability, and the rejection of both legal and illegal deforestation”, they urge.
Buyers were additionally urged to “collectively call on traders to uphold the criteria of the moratorium through CEO-to-CEO letters”.
“The Amazon cannot be sacrificed for profit. It’s time for food companies, including retailers and animal feed companies, that have relied on traders to uphold the moratorium, to mobilise,” said Mighty Earth nature and deforestation campaign lead Boris Patentreger.
“That means stepping up at this pivotal time to reject meat and dairy products linked to soy-driven deforestation and integrating the moratorium’s criteria into their policies to prevent the Amazon rainforest, which we all rely on to cool our rapidly warming world, from collapsing.”
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