In what it called a restrictive policy to fight deforestation, BNP said it would stop investing in firms producing or buying beef or soybeans cultivated on land in the Amazon cleared or converted since 2008.
The bank also said it would encourage clients not to buy or produce beef or soy farmed in the Cerrado, a vast tropical savannah south of the Amazon forest in Brazil, and require traceability of all beef and soy by 2025.
“Financial institutions exposed to the agricultural sector in Brazil must contribute to the fight against deforestation. This is the case for BNP Paribas,” the bank said in a statement.
We will only provide financial products or services to companies (producers, meat conditioners and traders) with a strategy to achieve 0⃣ deforestation in their production and supply chains by 2025 at the latest.
— BNP Paribas Group (@BNPParibas) February 15, 2021
⤵️ https://t.co/MTvbxonfRA
“We will only provide financial products or services to companies (producers, meat conditioners and traders) with a strategy to achieve zero deforestation in their production and supply chains by 2025 at the latest,” the bank said on social media.
Population growth and expanding middle classes in China and other countries have driven up demand for soy and increases in meat and dairy consumption, some of the largest drivers of global deforestation.
Some scientists warn of the impact on the Amazon forest, which spans nine countries. Half the Cerrado has already been cleared and is one of the planet’s most threatened ecosystems.
Mitigated response from environmental groups
Four French NGOs said the bank’s initiative sent a clear message to companies trading in the Amazon and Cerrado regions, but regretted the targets did not go farther or come quicker.
“BNP Paribas has understood the importance of imposing a cut-off date on soy traders, but no immediate demand is made to guarantee improved practices over the next few years,” said Klervi Le Guenic, campaigner at Canopée Forêts Vivantes, in a statement co-signed with three other groups.
“As it stands, BNP Paribas is giving traders five more years to clear forests with impunity.”
Recent years have seen multiple efforts to divest in or take legal action against companies directly or indirectly linked with deforestation in the Amazon.
French investment firm Comgest joined 28 international lenders in warning the Brazilian government last year of divestment if it did not take action on deforestation.
An international coalition of NGOs threatened French supermarket giant Casino with legal action last year if it failed to comply with duty of vigilance laws regarding its Amazon supply chains.
