The Companies behind the Burning of the Amazon

CAPITALISM, INDIGENOUS RIGHTS, ANGLO AMERICA, BRICS, ENVIRONMENT, EXPOSURES - EXPOSÉS, JUSTICE, ECONOMICS, CURRENT AFFAIRS, 9 Sep 2019

Glenn Hurowitz, Mat Jacobson, Etelle Higonnet, and Lucia von Reusner | Mighty Earth – TRANSCEND Media Service

The burning of the Amazon and the darkening of skies from Sao Paulo, Brazil, to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, have captured the world’s conscience. Much of the blame for the fires has rightly fallen on Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for directly encouraging the burning of forests and the seizure of Indigenous Peoples’ lands.

But the incentive for the destruction comes from large-scale international meat and soy animal feed companies like JBS and Cargill, and the global brands like Stop & Shop, Costco, McDonald’s, Walmart/Asda, and Sysco that buy from them and sell to the public. It is these companies that are creating the international demand that finances the fires and deforestation.

The transnational nature of their impact can be seen in the current crisis. Their destruction is not confined to Brazil. Just over the border, in the Bolivian Amazon, 2.5 million acres have burned, largely to clear land for new cattle and soy animal feed plantations, in just a few weeks. Paraguay is experiencing similar devastation.

Logs burn at sunset in Bolivia. Photo Credit: 2017, Jim Wickens/Ecostorm

Aerial cattle field and forest edge. Photo credit: Jim Wickens/Ecosotrm

New maps and analysis from Mighty Earth, based on data from NASA, CONAB, and Imazon are released here for the first time.

Which companies are most closely linked to the burning:

TO READ THE FULL REPORT Go to Original – stories.mightyearth.org

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