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Illegal gold mining remains rampant in the Amazon rainforest despite government efforts to curb it, reveals new analyses of satellite data from 2023 to 2024. According to the report by Greenpeace Brazil, national action to combat this destructive activity is not delivering a decrease, but rather a shift in the Indigenous territories affected. While mining activities reduced in Yanomami, Munduruku and Kayapó land (down 7%, 57% and 31%), Sararé land saw a dramatic surge, with illegal mining up by 93%.
Researchers also uncovered discrepancies in gold trade data. According to the investigation, Swiss imports exceeded Brazil’s reported exports by 67% in 2022 and 62% in 2023 – suggesting significant irregularities. in 2024, the top three destinations for Brazilian gold exports were Canada, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom – major international hubs for refining and trade.
Lula’s predecessor, far-right President Jair Bolsonaro deliberately weakened environmental controls in the Amazon. This triggered an explosion in exploration between 2018 and 2022, with a staggering 265% increase in illegal gold mining on Indigenous lands.[4] Since 2023, the current Brazilian government has intensified security and monitoring efforts in key areas. But Greenpeace Brazil’s research shows that illegal mining continues to adapt and spread across the forest – underscoring the urgent need for sustained, long-term strategies.
The Brazilian Supreme Federal Court recently ruled to close a legal loophole that had allowed buyers to accept gold without proving its origin, enabling illegal mining—often in Indigenous territories – to flourish unchecked. Gold buyers must now verify the legality of their purchases, and the government is required to enforce stricter oversight.
A new Greenpeace report, Nature Crime Files – Romania – Greenpeace International, followed the traces to the suppliers of furniture companies, such as IKEA. By closely examining the entire supply chain, from logging sites to wood depots, including scrutinising transport permits with geolocation attributes, and visiting processing facilities Greenpeace CEE found old-growth or other high conservation value destruction linked to at least seven different IKEA suppliers in Romania. Investigations identified at least 30 IKEA products, and some of IKEA’s well-known furniture, originating from these producers, raising a concern that wood from old-growth forests could ultimately end up in homes all over Europe and beyond.
According to Global Canopy, US$6.1 trillion in funding was provided to the 350 companies with the greatest risk exposures to tropical deforestation by some 150 financial institutions in 2023.
Through this exposure, land conversion presents numerous supply-chain risks to firms, namely:
- The reputational risks posed by adverse media (exacerbated further if linked to any human-rights abuses in the context of land conversion).
- The legal risks represented by increasing regulatory and legislative pressures on companies and financial institutions to prevent deforestation.
- The physical risks present, given that most bank-financed businesses and commercial services ultimately depend on natural capital and resources directly or through their supply chains. Aggressive consumption of resources reduces their availability in the long term, undermining sustainable development and creating economic instability. Indeed, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has estimated that at least 50 percent of global GDP is reliant on nature and warned that the impacts of climate change would significantly destabilise global trade.
The report, published on Thursday, estimates that Swiss pension funds contribute around CHF60 billion ($61 billion) to companies that are heavily involved in the destruction of tropical forests in South America, Africa and Asia.
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Click here to access the Global Illegal Logging and Associated Trade (ILAT) Risk assessment tool and to download the Forest Trends User Guide describing the functionality of the ILAT Risk Data Tool.
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