The forest of Amazonia, in Brazil, has never burned so much in August for 12 years. In this context, the NGO Mighty Earth calls into question the responsibility of the French distributor in deforestation.
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The Amazon is in the grip of gigantic fires. It had not seen so many fires for the month of August since 2010. There are 18% more outbreaks than in 2021 at the same period. The most affected region is referred to as “new frontier of deforestation” by environmentalists. The most critical area, almost as large as Spain, is located in northern Brazil between three northern states: Amazonas, Acre and Rondonia.
>> Brazil: deforestation in the Amazon reaches a record pace in the first half of 2022
The defense of the Amazon is at the cœur of a campaign targeted at the large retail group Carrefour. The NGO Mighty Earth accuses the group of playing a double game. On the one hand, the distributor communicates on its environmental responsibility. On the other hand, he buys from Brazilian producers accused of participating in deforestation.
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Mighty Earth targets two products distributed by Carrefour. “We have noticed that there are products in Carrefour stores in Brazil that come from deforestation”Explain Boris Patentreger France director of Mighty Earth. These are parts of beggs raised on Brazilian soy grown on land that was once forest. The French group is number one in food distribution in Brazil. “We could see that there were many products at risk and 12% of these products are linked to slaughterhouses connected to indigenous reserves.”
But it is not only in Brazil that these problematic products are distributed. “For France, these are products poultry. They are fed with soy from the company Bunge which participates in the deforestation of the Cerrado”, explains Boris Patentreger. This South American savannah is “heavily deforested for soybeans which are exported in particular to France”.
The fires stop in France but explode in the Amazon. A new record is broken, the new “Dia do Fogo” took place this August 22 with 3358 fires. What does @Crossroads main meat dealer in Brazil? https://t.co/LP7UXNkIK2
— Mighty Earth (@StandMighty) August 25, 2022
In 2020, Carrefour and all major retail players signed a manifesto “for the mobilization of French players to fight against imported deforestation linked to soy”. The French retailer has also taken on the co-management of the “Forest Positive Coalition”, a commercial alliance of the Consumer Goods Forum to protect forests. Mighty Earth is now asking Carrefour to change suppliers to create a ripple effect within the sector.