Amazon soy pact collapse may drive 1.4M hectares of deforestation
The collapse of the Amazon Soy Moratorium, a voluntary agreement to prevent soy production on deforested land, is expected to lead to 1.4 million hectares of new deforestation in Brazil. Researchers warn that this shift will significantly increase carbon emissions and undermine previous environmental progress.
Why it matters
The failure of voluntary corporate environmental pacts poses a major threat to the preservation of the Amazon rainforest and global climate goals.
For nearly two decades, a handshake agreement saved the Amazon from the chainsaws. Soy traders promised not to finance cropland carved out of deforested Amazon territory after 2008, and it worked.Deforestation-linked soy expansion fell from one-third of annual growth to nearly nothing. It was, by any measure, a rare victory for voluntary corporate restraint. However, the pact is almost over now.A new analysis published in the journal Science examined the rise and fall of the Amazon Soy Moratorium, one of the world's most successful voluntary deforestation commitments, under which soy traders agreed not to source or finance soy grown on land deforested after July 2008.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in