60% of the Amazon rainforest is in Brazil. It needs protecting.

Brazil is home to approximately 60% of the Amazon rainforest - the biggest in the world - as well as a range of other diverse biomes such as the cerrado, caatinga, pantanal, and pampa. These biomes, which sequester huge amounts of carbon and host some of the world’s highest concentrations of biodiversity, are under great threat - as are the indigenous peoples and local communities who protect them.

Brazil is also one of the world’s leading exporters of agricultural commodities – among them soy, beef and leather. Our work in Brazil engages with government, civil society, Indigenous peoples’ groups, and the private sector to promote land and natural resource use that is both sustainable, accountable, and compliant with law.

Our work in Brazil focuses on three themes

  1. We work to hold companies accountable when they have disproportionately negative impacts on climate and biodiversity in Brazil.

    This also involves looking at financial actors whose investments are driving those climate and biodiversity impacts.

  2. We are protecting forests in Brazil by making sure products that are linked to deforestation are not sold in the EU.

    We collaborate with Brazilian and EU partners to make sure the EU Deforestation Regulation is complied with and properly enforced. Brazil is a huge exporter of soy, beef, leather and other high-risk commodities; we work with partners to achieve compliance and target the biggest offenders.

  3. We are working with Indigenous communities to protect their homes and their rights.

    We're planning legal actions that tackle the main causes of deforestation and violations of Indigenous and Local Community (IPLC) rights. This involves steps like investigating the import/export chains of garimpo gold production (such as identifying companies profiting from the trade), supporting legal processes to protect Indigenous territories, and finding ways to enhance legal assistance for IPLC lawyers.

We’re taking action against a giant soy supplier

We’re filing a legal complaint against US-based agribusiness giant Cargill over its failure to deal with its contribution to deforestation and related human rights abuses in Brazil.

Cargill is one of the biggest food companies on the planet and one of the largest exporters of Brazilian soy, supplying major retail brands including Tesco, McDonalds and Sainsbury's. But we’ve found that the company is failing to carry out proper checks on the vast amount of soy it buys, trades and ships to markets worldwide to ensure it isn’t causing harm to people and nature.

More about our case against Cargill Opens in a new window

Latest news

Forests

Brazil

4 May 2023

We’re taking action against a giant soy supplier for deforestation and human rights failings

Latest documents

Forests

Communities & forests

Brazil

1 August 2023

Statement of Concern over Bill that threatens the rights of Indigenous Peoples to their ancestral lands