British supermarkets threaten Brazil boycott over proposed forest law

By Matthew Green and Jake Spring

 

FILE PHOTO: An aerial view shows a deforested plot of the Amazon near Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil, September 17, 2019. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly/File Photo

 

LONDON/BRASILIA (Reuters) - British supermarkets have warned Brazil they might have to boycott its products if lawmakers there pass a contentious bill that could enable faster destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

 

Sainsbury's, Tesco, Morrisons and Marks & Spencer were among more than 40 companies to sign an open letter https://www.retailsoygroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Letter-from-Business-on-Amazon.pdf urging Brazil's national legislature to reject the proposed bill, backed by President Jair Bolsonaro.

 

The letter said the law would encourage "further land grabbing and widespread deforestation" which would endanger the survival of the Amazon, the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, and the rights of indigenous communities.

 

"We believe that it would also put at risk the ability of organisations such as ours to continue sourcing from Brazil in the future," the letter said.

 

Brazil's lower house speaker, Rodrigo Maia, earlier said he would introduce the bill on the floor of Congress on Wednesday for a potential vote.

 

Settlers in the Brazilian Amazon have for decades laid claim to public land without official government sanction, often clearing forest to grow export crops such as soy or raise cattle.

 

The proposal before Congress – known as "land regularization" by the agriculture lobby and "the land speculation law" by environmentalists – will make it easier for those that settled on public land historically to obtain deeds for their properties, under certain circumstances.

 

Supporters of the bill say that legally titling the land is an essential step towards forcing owners to comply with environmental laws to limit deforestation in the Amazon.

 

Environmentalists say the bill would effectively reward land speculators for massive illegal deforestation carried out in the past, while opening the floodgates to further clearing and settlement of public forest land.

 

Amazon research institute Imazon estimates the bill would hasten the deforestation of 11,000-16,000 square kilometres (4,247-6,178 square miles).

 

After intense debate in Brazil, the bill has been substantially diluted relative to the original, including removal of a provision to allow more recently occupied properties to apply for deeds.

 

Nevertheless, signatories to the letter, which included agribusiness companies and investors such as Sweden's AP7 pension fund and Norwegian insurer Storebrand, said they were "deeply concerned" about the proposed bill.

 

"We urge the Brazilian government to reconsider its stance and hope to continue working with partners in Brazil to demonstrate that economic development and environmental protection are not mutually exclusive," the letter said.

 

(Reporting by Matt Green in London and Jake Spring in Brasilia; Additional reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello; Editing by Leslie Adler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-05-20

 

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Good! Someone has to do something; their president  is doing nothing.

Thank goodness that some large food chains and pension funds put ethics and future of the planet before profit! Unless we stop deforestation around the world and allow habitats to regenerate now, hundreds of species of flora and fauna will be lost for ever and mankind's future will be very bleak. 

1 minute ago, graemeaylward said:

Thank goodness that some large food chains and pension funds put ethics and future of the planet before profit!

What if your pension fund said they wanted to get ethical, but would need to reduce your pension by 25% to make up for their income loss?

And the food chains said they wanted to get ethical, but your food would cost 25% more?

Edited May 20, 20206 yr by BritManToo

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

What if your pension fund said they wanted to get ethical, but would need to reduce your pension by 25% to make up for their income loss?

And the food chains said they wanted to get ethical, but your food would cost 25% more?

I would say cut the forests down , and shoot Greta????

seriously when i was born there were 2/3 billion on the planet ,now 7.5 billion ,in 2050 at least 12 billion ,the planet as we know it is doomed anyway.

7 minutes ago, graemeaylward said:

Thank goodness that some large food chains and pension funds put ethics and future of the planet before profit! Unless we stop deforestation around the world and allow habitats to regenerate now, hundreds of species of flora and fauna will be lost for ever and mankind's future will be very bleak. 

read my previous post ,its very bleak already.

12 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

What if your pension fund said they wanted to get ethical, but would need to reduce your pension by 25% to make up for their income loss?

And the food chains said they wanted to get ethical, but your food would cost 25% more?

Which is not the case. Environmentally friendly funds are a grow market, with good rewards.

13 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

What if your pension fund said they wanted to get ethical, but would need to reduce your pension by 25% to make up for their income loss?

And the food chains said they wanted to get ethical, but your food would cost 25% more?

I believe Lord Greta can take care of the welfare of all herd. 

She probably can feed millions full with a piece of bread as the prophet did two thousands years ago. 

17 minutes ago, bert bloggs said:

I would say cut the forests down , and shoot Greta????

seriously when i was born there were 2/3 billion on the planet ,now 7.5 billion ,in 2050 at least 12 billion ,the planet as we know it is doomed anyway.

Indeed, but the planet is not doomed, just humanity along with all the species we will exterminate between now and when Gaia finally gets rid of us. The forests will return to cover the earth, the oceans will recover in time ( even plastic will dissolve in a billion years ), and another species will emerge to become dominant. Rinse and repeat till the sun expands and melts planet earth.

 

I count myself fortunate to have been born at a time when medicine and technology made my life better than ever before, and I count myself to be fortunate that I shall ( hopefully ) pass over before it really turns to deep doodoo caused by just too many people.

Why isn't Greta campaigning to boycott Brazil? Is it because only western economies are evil, and others like Brazil, China etc are OK?

33 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

What if your pension fund said they wanted to get ethical, but would need to reduce your pension by 25% to make up for their income loss?

And the food chains said they wanted to get ethical, but your food would cost 25% more?

Wouldn't make much difference to me. I can live on chicken rice and veges, and even I can afford that. Might miss chocolate though.

It's getting difficult to know who i can buy from. I can't buy EUSSR goods, i can't buy Chinese goods and now nothing from Brazil.

18 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Why isn't Greta campaigning to boycott Brazil? Is it because only western economies are evil, and others like Brazil, China etc are OK?

More likely the guy running her has investments in Brasil.

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

What if your pension fund said they wanted to get ethical, but would need to reduce your pension by 25% to make up for their income loss?

And the food chains said they wanted to get ethical, but your food would cost 25% more?

That depends on what you see as important in life! Life is more important than material goods and money.  There is little point in storing up wealth on earth if their is nothing left of the earth!  Many species of animal and plants have already become extinct in my lifetime, and many more are threatened by destruction of habitat due to mankind's greed!  For me, I would willingly take a cut in pension and food to protect wildlife.  As it is I already support charities that work to protect the planet!

 

The management of these supermarkets and pensions know something some here wish to deny.

 

Adopting pro-environment policies is good for business.

 

2 hours ago, Henryford said:

It's getting difficult to know who i can buy from. I can't buy EUSSR goods, i can't buy Chinese goods and now nothing from Brazil.

What would you have bought off them anyway? Far as I understand their cattle ranches are for the American market.

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

More likely the guy running her has investments in Brasil.

Brazil

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Why isn't Greta campaigning to boycott Brazil? Is it because only western economies are evil, and others like Brazil, China etc are OK?

You already make up your mind to attack the young activist before searching if she condemned the de-forestation in Brazil. In reply, Brazil's right-wing leader Jair Bolsonaro called her a brat. Typical of all climate deniers with their name calling. By the way, is China having a de-forestation issue. Please do tell.   

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

What if your pension fund said they wanted to get ethical, but would need to reduce your pension by 25% to make up for their income loss?

And the food chains said they wanted to get ethical, but your food would cost 25% more?

That's perfectly OK by me. To ensure a healthy planet, we must make economic sacrifices. For me, the trade-off is excellent, and I'm on a very low income, please note. For you, perhaps money is all.

4 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Good! Someone has to do something; their president  is doing nothing.

It's much worse than that: the idiot Bolsonaro actively encourages Amazon forest destruction, besides being an all-round cretin on everything. Imagine a leader worse than Trump and here he is.

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Indeed, but the planet is not doomed, just humanity along with all the species we will exterminate between now and when Gaia finally gets rid of us. The forests will return to cover the earth, the oceans will recover in time ( even plastic will dissolve in a billion years ), and another species will emerge to become dominant. Rinse and repeat till the sun expands and melts planet earth.

 

I count myself fortunate to have been born at a time when medicine and technology made my life better than ever before, and I count myself to be fortunate that I shall ( hopefully ) pass over before it really turns to deep doodoo caused by just too many people.

It's too many people PLUS bad economic policies that are causing the planet's devastation - but I'm with you on being happy to exit before the doodoo really hits the fan..

Edited May 20, 20206 yr by sprq
spelling mistake

4 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Why isn't Greta campaigning to boycott Brazil? Is it because only western economies are evil, and others like Brazil, China etc are OK?

Miserable old guy attacks young person who is trying to make the world a better place. 

 

Edited May 20, 20206 yr by Throatwobbler

9 hours ago, graemeaylward said:

Thank goodness that some large food chains and pension funds put ethics and future of the planet before profit! Unless we stop deforestation around the world and allow habitats to regenerate now, hundreds of species of flora and fauna will be lost for ever and mankind's future will be very bleak. 

Till of course the Britis coffee and orange juice consumers discover their drinks increase a LOT in price...

10 hours ago, BritManToo said:

What if your pension fund said they wanted to get ethical, but would need to reduce your pension by 25% to make up for their income loss?

And the food chains said they wanted to get ethical, but your food would cost 25% more?

Typical! 

7 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Brazil

If you are from Brazil and speaking Portuguese you would write Brasil

Obviously western countries want the vast Amazon rain forests to remain untouched, but is there not a touch of hypocrisy here, us having already cut down almost all our forests ? My great great Granddad, who worked as a logger in the Sahara Forest, thought so !

1 minute ago, phantomfiddler said:

Obviously western countries want the vast Amazon rain forests to remain untouched, but is there not a touch of hypocrisy here, us having already cut down almost all our forests ? My great great Granddad, who worked as a logger in the Sahara Forest, thought so !

Dont post funnies here, they upset the pedantic border bouncers..

6 hours ago, Throatwobbler said:

Miserable old guy attacks young person who is trying to make the world a better place. 

 

I would rewrite that as

"Old guy defends his hard earned pension and standard of living against a high-school dropout financed by persons unknown"

Edited May 20, 20206 yr by BritManToo

8 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Brazil

The academy has decided that the appropriate way to spell the word is ‘brasa’ – not ‘braza’ – so the appropriate way to spell the name of the country is thus ‘Brasil’. 

In 1945 both Brazil and Portugal have agreed that this spelling is officially correct.

7 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

You already make up your mind to attack the young activist before searching if she condemned the de-forestation in Brazil. In reply, Brazil's right-wing leader Jair Bolsonaro called her a brat. Typical of all climate deniers with their name calling. By the way, is China having a de-forestation issue. Please do tell.   

Chill, chill. Why don't you have a and a lie down. This is a forum and neither of us know the other.