Traders and Industry

Why is this so relevant?

Soy is Brazil’s largest crop by area and also its most valuable export commodity. Almost half of all Brazil’s cultivated cropland was used for soy in 2017 (43%), an area of almost 34 million hectares. Although a significant share of soy is grown in the southern region of Brazil (33%), nearly all recent deforestation linked to soy expansion has occurred in the Cerrado and Amazon biomes. These regions accounted for over half (51%) of the soy exported from Brazil in 2017 (1).

Exports

China is the biggest importer of Brazilian soy, accounting for nearly 65% of all soy exports from Brazil in 2017. Over half of that came from the Cerrado and Amazon biomes, which account for 73,000 km2 of soy plantations, an area twice the size of Belgium.

The European Union is the second largest importer of Brazilian soy, accounting for 15% of all soy exports from Brazil in 2017. Around 68% of that came from the Cerrado and Amazon biomes.

Deforestation-free soy chain: Soy Moratorium example and the expansion to Cerrado

The analysis of corporate commitments to zero deforestation show that of the 566 companies that made such commitments, most set 2020 as the deadline for achieving the target. However, the reporting of the targets, strategies and monitoring tools that will be used for that purpose still lack transparency.

Only one fourth of the companies report their results regularly and given the tight deadline for the achievement of the target they should report not only their commitments but also the monitoring systems they will be using to keep track of their zero deforestation targets.

Strengthening the Soy Moratorium

The Soy Moratorium is an exemplary case mainly because the targets proposed are being reached and the monitoring, reporting and checking process is maintained by a multi-stakeholder group composed of sector representatives and civil society. The Soy Moratorium’s relevance in the sector and to international buyers ensures that it is continually improving. In a changing political scenario, increasing transparency is key to stakeholders.

The need to protect the Cerrado

Brazil is one of the top ten greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters in the world. The Amazon and Cerrado biomes are the main sources of these emissions, primarily from pasture and soybean production (SEEG, 2018). Currently, the Amazon and Cerrado regions account for around 20.9 million hectares (Mha) of soybean (3.7 and 17.2 Mha respectively), 106.1 Mha of pastures (43.0 and 63.1 Mha respectively) (2).

Soybean growing in the Cerrado Biome has expanded mainly in areas occupied by pastures and other crops but most new soybean crops in the Matopiba region are the result of the conversion of native vegetation. This conversion poses a great risk to the sustainability of the crops and the region.

Due to land use change, climate regulation (temperature and humidity, rainfall etc.), pollination, erosion control and other services provided by the biome cease to exist. The result is severe droughts that have steadily worsened year after year, as we have seen in recent years.

References

(1) 10-YEAR OF SOY MORATORIUM IN THE AMAZON: History, impacts and expansion into
Cerrado areas / Marina Piatto, Lisandro Inakake de Souza, - Piracicaba, SP:
Imaflora, 2016. 68 p;