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New research using Trase data shows that supply chain divergence to meet different consumer requirements already is a reality. Brazil’s exporters, for example, sell soy to Denmark and Norway that is four-times less exposed to deforestation than soy sent to China or used domestically.
The researchers interviewed companies from the Brazilian soy sector and confirmed such segmentation is both predictable and standard practice. While physical segregation of soy grains can be challenging, it has not been difficult for certain traders and regions exposed to very different levels of deforestation to specialise in markets that demand higher or lower levels of sustainability.
This is the second part of a cross-border investigation conducted by Voxeurop and Periodistas por el Planeta into how soy from deforestation-prone areas in Argentina arrives in Europe by exploiting legal loopholes and abusing self-regulation. You can read the first part of this investigation here.
Europe’s food giants turn a blind eye to deforestation in Argentina – VoxEurop
This report by Global Witness shows how the 20 biggest banks in the EU have provided billions to companies linked to deforestation since 2016. This review shows that voluntary guidelines and individual commitments by financial institutions are unlikely to stop the financing of forest destruction.
A cross-border probe, led by ICIJ and first published in March 2023, involved 44 media partners globally and documented how Western environmental auditing firms and governments failed to stop the trade of wood logged in conflict zones.
The findings supported a June investigation from ICIJ partners Paper Trail Media, Der Spiegel, ZDF and others that similarly revealed how Russian timber continued to circumvent the EU’s embargo, making its way into the bloc by routing through countries like China, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Shipments of timber transported by trucks from Cameroon, the CAR and Congo-Brazzaville pass through the port hub of Douala and Kribi supply markets in China, Vietnam, France, Spain, Germany, etc. A volume of timber that could soon double thanks to the new multi-purpose quay of the wood terminal of the port of Douala inaugurated on March 29, 2023 .
According to the report “State of the forest-timber sector in Central African Republic (2021)”, between 2017 and 2021, 1,473,882 m3 of timber were exported in logs from the CAR, as compared to 78,439 m3 of sawn timber. SCAD, other Besides companies in the timber sector in the CAR, such as SOFOCAD, SEFCA and CENTRABOIS, make regular trips to the port of Douala (Littoral), as well as to the deep-water port of Kribi, in the south of Cameroon .
In addition to timber from the Central African Republic, the Port of Douala’s Timber Terminal also receives shipments from northern Congo-Brazzaville, where the forest sector generates a turnover of about 100 billion CFA francs a year and contributes 20 billion CFA francs to government tax revenues .
New report by EIA highlights Peru’s Congress approved new legislation that legalized much of alleged unlawful deforestation by some of the companies featured in the report. As a result, EIA claims that tainted palm oil and cocoa produced by firms that operated for years with impunity may continue being traded to unwitting European and Peruvian consumers, setting a dangerous precedent risking more illegal Amazon clearance in the future.
During a virtual meeting of the European Commission’s expert group on protecting and restoring forests on May 4, a representative from the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre presented data showing that 13 EU member states had imported Myanmar timber products, which were likely to be teak, in the past year. Italy, France, Poland and Spain topped the list, with Italy importing an amount estimated to be worth more than $20 million since March 2022, according to Eurostat.
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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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