Investors can help rein in Amazon deforestation - Science Magazine

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Investors can help rein in Amazon deforestation - Science Magazine Posted: 06 Aug 2020 10:54 AM PDT The Brazilian Amazon—the largest tropical rainforest in the world—has reached its highest level of deforestation since 2008 (1). In 2019, 10,897 km2 of land were deforested, a 50.7% jump over the previous year (1). A combination of threats, including tens of thousands of forest fires (2), expanding road networks (3, 4), weakened environmental laws (5, 6), and a failure to enforce environmental laws and regulations (6), is responsible. Given the staunchly pro-development policies of Brazil's current government, a coalition of key actors in the financial sector is needed to help protect the embattled Amazon rainforest. Efforts of corporations and investors to slow Amazon deforestation are gaining momentum. On 7 July, executives of nearly 40 Brazilian corporations urged the Brazilian government to combat illegal deforestation and warned that Brazil's image and business abroad were suffering as a result (7). This plea comes on the heels of a call by 29 global investors, managing $3.7 trillion in assets, to protect the Amazon rainforest and its Indigenous peoples (8). Global efforts to slow forest loss are also targeting corporations operating in Amazonia. In October 2019, almost 250 international investors, with $17.2 trillion in assets, called on firms to urgently slow deforestation within their Brazilian operations and supply chains (9). Moreover, some international partners of Brazil's agribusiness, such as the European Union, are adopting measures to limit imports of commodities from Brazil that promote illegal deforestation (10). These corporations and investors have called for the Brazilian government to demonstrate a clear commitment to eliminating deforestation and protecting the rights of Indigenous peoples. However, the government's principal response so far—banning fires in the Amazon for 120 days (11)—will not halt or reverse the deforestation crisis. Instead, Brazil should follow the lead of investors (9) and scientists (10) who have urged the government to improve the systems that monitor Amazon land use and agricultural commodity production. Beyond this, Brazil needs to follow the scientific guidelines for conservation and sustainable use produced by the Science Panel for the Amazon—a program funded by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network that encompasses 150 authorities, including scientists, political planners, and Indigenous leaders (12).

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