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

Why are we taking action?

Brazil’s vulnerable forests and savannas are under threat. The mass production of soy to feed cattle, pigs and chickens is driving the destruction of these critical ecosystems, pushing them dangerously close to tipping points they may never recover from, while putting the communities that depend on them in danger.

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. Its huge soy business has been linked to deforestation and violations of the rights of Indigenous, Afro-Brazilian and other forest-dependent communities through its extensive soy supply chain and operations on the ground.

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.

So we’ve submitted a complaint in the US that alleges that Cargill has breached the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’s guidelines on responsible and sustainable business practice.

Cargill’s deforestation and human rights failures raise the risk that the chicken and meat sold in supermarkets across the world has been raised on so-called ‘dirty’ soy. We’re taking action so that it starts cleaning up its operations.

What does our complaint say?

There is a string of reports linking Cargill to deforestation and related human rights abuses in Brazil. The company should be carrying out extensive checks to identify how it is contributing to these impacts and taking steps to eliminate them.

Cargill claims to have a sophisticated monitoring, verification and reporting system to end deforestation related to soy production in its supply chains. It also makes a policy commitment to support Indigenous Peoples and local community rights.

However, our analysis of its public policies and reporting documents tells a different story – one of serious failings that we say put the company in breach of the OECD Guidelines.

Specifically, Cargill does not appear to conduct:

• Proper environmental due diligence on soy bought from other cooperatives and traders, as opposed to directly from farmers, which makes up 42% of all Brazilian soy it purchases;
• Any environmental due diligence on soy owned by other companies that passes through its ports;
• Any environmental due diligence for indirect land use change, that is ecosystem conversion that has been displaced from Cargill’s supply chains to other areas;
• Proper environmental due diligence on soy sourced from the Cerrado savanna, despite the massive rate of deforestation there and its environmental importance; nor,
• Any due diligence for soy sourced from the Atlantic Forest – a global biodiversity hotspot and an important region for conservation.

Importantly, our complaint alleges that Cargill does not appear to have adequate policies and systems in place to address human rights impacts related to its soy operations in Brazil, even though it has been linked to cases of rights violations.

We cannot protect the Amazon, Atlantic Forest or the Cerrado savanna from further destruction if the big agribusinesses operating in these vital ecosystems are not taking the necessary steps to minimise their role in destroying them.

Given Cargill’s market influence, know-how and massive resources, it should have systems and policies that keep deforestation and ecosystem conversion, and related human rights abuses, out of its supply chain and therefore out of our everyday foods. It’s in the company’s best long-term interests to put this into action.

What do we want to see happen?

We want Cargill to improve its due diligence policies to minimise the risk that its operations and supply chain are contributing to deforestation and human rights violations in Brazil – in line with its responsibilities under international standards.

Governments around the world are already moving to make enhanced due diligence mandatory. The EU has a new law blocking products linked to deforestation from its market, and the UK Environment Act does the same for products linked to illegal deforestation. Similar proposals are being considered in the US.

Ultimately, governments, regulators, the financial sector, retailers and consumers are all waking up to agribusiness’ role in the destruction of nature. It is in Cargill’s best interests to get on the front foot in the face of incoming regulation and start properly addressing its impact on people and the planet.