France has listed agricultural traders Bunge and Cargill as the main soybean importers from deforestation risk areas, and deforestation risk is one of the main causes of global warming.

These companies have been identified as the French government’s attempt to clean up the country’s agricultural supply chain, launching an online database to track soybean exports from Brazil to France.

This database Statistics show that about a quarter of Brazil’s soybean exports to France in 2018 came from deforested areas.

Brazil is the world’s largest producer of pulses, which are mainly used as livestock feed and oil. For decades, its production has been one of the reasons for tropical rain forest deforestation.

The Amazon and the Brazilian prairie are important buffer zones in response to climate change, serving as huge carbon storage reservoirs. According to statistics, in the year ending in July, the deforestation rate in the Amazon was the highest in 15 years. Brazil official data.

The online database was launched by the French Ministry of Ecological Transformation with the help of the supply chain transparency organization Trase and the environmental NGO Canopee, highlighting the world’s largest agricultural trader’s role in dealing with commodities that may be related to deforestation.

The report shows that Bunge accounts for 70% of the cargo, of which soybeans come from areas threatened by high-risk deforestation, while Cargill accounts for nearly 10%.

Bunge stated that it is committed to achieving a deforestation-free supply chain by 2025 and has already removed some farmers related to deforestation from its supply chain.

Cargill said that the platform’s data did not reflect French imports, adding that it is committed to eliminating deforestation in the shortest possible time, but there is no single solution to the problem.

The French government stated that it invites traders and other companies to share their data to improve the quality of analysis.

Nico Muzi of Mighty Earth, an environmental movement organization, said that traders determine the state of the global soybean market, and if they feel pressured, they may make major changes.

According to the French website, about 411,000 tons of the 1.57 million soybeans or their products exported from Brazil to France in 2018 were related to the high risk of deforestation.

According to the government’s Ministry of Ecological Transformation, France imports about 3 million tons of soybean meal each year, accounting for about 17% of the EU’s total. “Monitoring these import flows that pose a risk to forests… will help address supply chain risks,” it said.

Soon after the online database was released Global commitment Stop the destruction of the world’s forests at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

EU also Publish The draft regulations will force companies to prove that the products they sell to the EU will not lead to legal or illegal deforestation or forest degradation.

However, the data on the French website does not prove that soybeans are grown in deforested areas, the Ministry of Ecology said, adding that it will contact traders to learn about deforestation risks in their supply chains.

French supermarket group Carrefour is a member of the government working group that helped develop the platform. The company said that by 2025, it will use this data to eliminate deforestation-related soy livestock feed from its supply chain.

The group signed a soy manifesto with other leading French retailers last year to address the problems of deforestation and savannah destruction. British retailers and food companies followed suit, signing a similar declaration in November.

Climate capital

Where climate change meets business, markets, and politics. Explore the British Financial Times report here.

Are you curious about the environmental sustainability commitment of the Financial Times? Learn more about our science-based goals here