Brazil court ruling opens door to Amazon deforestation for soy
Brazil's Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld state laws that effectively ended a landmark initiative credited with curbing deforestation of the Amazon rainforest for soybean farming, reported Reuters.
The justices rejected farmers' claims that the 20-year-old voluntary "soy moratorium" was unlawful, thus shielding grain traders and processors from billions of reais in potential damages sought by farmers.
But the court supported state measures, such as Mato Grosso's move last year, that revoked tax benefits for companies participating in the moratorium.
That law in the top soy-growing state prompted major grain traders, including U.S. companies ADM ADM.N and Cargill as well as China's Cofco, to withdraw from the pledge in January, and environmentalists said this effectively ended the effort.
Brazil is the world's largest producer of soybeans, and the moratorium, a commitment introduced in 2006 after threats of boycotts, bars participants from buying soybeans grown on land deforested after July 2008.
Research has found the voluntary initiative was effective in reducing deforestation of the Amazon, the world's biggest rainforest. Scientists have warned that deforestation could hasten global warming.
In the Supreme Court case, Brazilian farmers challenged the moratorium, saying it imposed unfair restrictions on them. Brazilian law allows many land owners to clear 20% of their property while the moratorium barred any deforestation after 2008.
Brazil's soy crushers group Abiove welcomed the ruling in a statement on Wednesday, saying it eliminated legal uncertainty. The group's head, Andre Nassar, said members were unlikely to rejoin the moratorium.
Cristiane Mazzetti of environmental group Greenpeace said the court's decision was "a setback that could, in the medium term, reverse the positive trend of reduced deforestation in the Amazon."
Farmers group Aprosoja MT said in a statement it would evaluate avenues for reconsideration of the compensation claims.
The court's decision adds uncertainty to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's bid, launched in 2023, to halt Amazon deforestation by 2030.
Scientists have said the Amazon helps regulate the global climate by storing vast amounts of carbon and slowing the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
In a study published in July, researchers from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, World Wide Fund for Nature Brazil and other organizations found that the moratorium helped reduce direct Amazon deforestation for soy production to "nearly zero" and cut deforestation in areas vulnerable to soy expansion by 35% in its first decade.
They estimated that ending the moratorium would result over the next decade in an additional 1.4 million hectares (3.5 million acres) of deforestation and generate about 745 million metric tons of additional greenhouse gas emissions, roughly equivalent to Canada's annual emissions.
