Dozens of environmental organizations released a collective statement on Thursday opposing recent legislative changes in Brazilian states that jeopardize the Amazon soy moratorium. This initiative, established 18 years ago, is a voluntary pact that prohibits the trading of soybeans sourced from newly deforested lands.
The moratorium serves as a crucial agreement that encourages traders and oil companies to avoid purchasing soybeans cultivated on land cleared since 2008. It has created an unusual alliance among various groups, including environmental organizations like Greenpeace and WWF, as well as significant U.S. agriculture firms such as Cargill, Bunge, and ADM.
However, recent laws introduced in the Amazonian states of Mato Grosso, the leading soybean producer in Brazil, and its neighboring state Rondonia, have diminished tax incentives for companies involved in processing and trading that comply with the moratorium. In addition, two other states and Brazil’s Congress are considering similar legislative measures.
According to the declaration, these legal changes effectively penalize businesses that are dedicated to combating deforestation and will promote the expansion of agribusiness in rainforest regions. The new laws may create financial incentives that favor deforestation while discriminating against tax benefits based on a company’s commitment to environmental sustainability. The collective statement argues that those enterprises striving for higher environmental standards will suffer as a result.
The statement, which has garnered 67 endorsements from organizations such as Greenpeace, WWF, and the Climate Observatory—a coalition of 119 groups tracking Brazil’s federal climate legislation—highlights the significant growth in soybean production within the Amazon region under the moratorium. The area cultivated for soy increased dramatically from 1.6 million hectares (approximately 4 million acres) in 2007 to 7.28 million hectares (around 18 million acres) by 2022, as noted in a report about the moratorium.
Additionally, the manifesto urges businesses operating in Mato Grosso and Rondonia to uphold their commitment to the moratorium, even if that means sacrificing substantial tax incentives—an especially challenging call for smaller and mid-sized enterprises.
Research indicates that the moratorium has played a vital role in conserving the Amazon rainforest. A study published in the journal Nature Food in 2020 revealed that this agreement, alongside supportive public policies, led to the most significant decline in deforestation ever documented in Brazil, occurring between 2003 and 2016.
In response, the government of Mato Grosso explained that it implemented the new law because they believe the moratorium imposes stricter requirements than those outlined in Brazil’s existing laws, which are recognized as having some of the most rigorous environmental protections globally. They also pointed out that much of the state’s territory is still covered by original rainforest vegetation.
“We challenge these organizations to identify any major food-producing state globally that manages to preserve 60% of its territory,” the government communicated in its written response.