Deforestation is caused by multiple factors, some human and some natural. Among the anthropogenic factors are agriculture, animal husbandry, businesses, etc.
The companies and financial firms with the greatest potential to reduce global deforestation are failing to act in this direction, undermining the promises of forest protection made in the 26th United Nations Climate Conference (COP26), according to a report published Thursday, January 13, 2022.
In clear terms, these big global companies and financial institutions are not doing, or not doing enough, to fight once morest deforestation linked to the production and consumption of palm oil, soybeans, beef, leather, wood and paper, denounced the British non-governmental organization (NGO) Global Canopy.
The NGO Global Canopy reviewed 350 companies accused of being the most responsible for deforestation, directly or indirectly, and 150 banks, investment funds or pension funds that finance them. According to this analysis, one in three companies surveyed has no commitment to forest protection, and 72% of them have some commitments but not on all deforestation-related products in their supply chain.
In November 2021, in Scotland, at the COP26 on the climate in Glasgow, governments, companies and financial institutions pledged, hand on heart, to fight once morest deforestation, responsible for around 15% of greenhouse gas emissions. greenhouse (GES). The observation is quite different, these commitments are undermined by the inaction of large companies and financial institutions in the matter, lamented Thursday, January 13, 2022 the British NGO Global Canopy, in the latest edition of its annual report, which analyzes the promises. the 350 largest companies producing, using or marketing the six main raw materials responsible for deforestation (palm oil, soybeans, beef, leather, wood and paper) and the 150 institutions which finance them.
Even those with commitments targeting certain specific products, particularly soybeans, beef and leather, “fail to provide evidence on how they are implementing them,” the report said. “Too few companies recognize the climate risks posed by deforestation, and few include their supply chain in their assessment,” said Niki Mardas of Global Canopy.
A third of the companies studied do not have a policy in place to ensure that their products are not responsible for deforestation. Among them, the French agribusiness giants, the report said.
What harm the fight once morest climate change, since “if deforestation in the tropics were a country, it would be the third source of CO2 emissions in the world following China and the United States”, recalls the report. What also harm biodiversity and the rights of local populations. Or even to the companies themselves, because, according to Global Canopy, “by causing climate damage and loss of biodiversity, by affecting the water supply, deforestation deteriorates the conditions allowing the cultivation of agricultural raw materials, which has an impact on production and prices ”.
Soybeans can be a “hidden ingredient” in products such as meat, fish, dairy products or eggs, as it is commonly used in animal feed.
Nestle, Unilever, BNP Paribas, HSBC… The best students
Cargill, Colgate-Palmolive, Nestle, Unilever and PepsiCo are among the top 15 companies. The situation is no better for those who finance the 350 companies to the tune of more than $ 5.5 trillion per year, the report estimates. 93 of the 150 financial companies analyzed do not have a deforestation policy covering investments and loans to companies most dependent on forest-ravaging commodities. And only regarding twenty banks or investment companies have a deforestation policy that provides for an assessment of the progress made. Among the best students, whose efforts are deemed insufficient despite everything, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial or the Sociéte Générale and Standard Chartered.
According to Nigel Topping, one of the “champions” appointed by the British presidency of the COP26, “stopping agriculture which encourages deforestation to halve emissions and repair the destruction of biodiversity by 2030 is not not an option but a necessity for companies committed with credibility to carbon neutrality ”.
“Without this, we will not be able to limit warming to + 1.5 ° C” compared to the industrial era, the most ambitious objective of the Paris agreement, he added in a press release sent to the hurry.
Finally, Global Canopy underlined that “only binding measures and the duty to account will make it possible to move the market on the scale necessary”. The NGO calls for legislation. In November, the European Commission published a legislative proposal aimed at “avoiding or minimizing the placing on the EU market of products associated with deforestation and forest degradation”. As part of the French presidency of the European Union which began on January 1, 2022, France has placed this proposed European law once morest imported deforestation on the list of its priorities.
Moctar FICOU / VivAfrik