“To address the problem of deforestation in Brazil, it is necessary to coordinate between the private sector, public authorities, academia, and the availability of high-quality data,” stated Juliana Lopes, Director of ESG, Communication and Compliance at Amaggi, during the panel “How are Brazilian agri-food companies fighting deforestation in their value chains?”. The event, part of the CEBDS program during Climate Week NYC, was held on the 23rd in partnership with Imaflora, Nutrien, and Amaggi, and featured the participation of UFMG adjunct professor and researcher Raoni Rajão, and was moderated by Luana Maia, Director of Operations and Strategic Planning at CEBDS.
At the event, the preliminary results of the study “Agri-food chains and the challenges of eliminating deforestation: actors, regulations, strategies, and interactions,” a partnership between CEBDS and Imaflora, with support from Nutrien, were presented and discussed. The results will be presented at COP27 in November in Egypt.
When presenting the study, Isabel Drigo, Manager of Climate, Data Science, Knowledge Management and Advocacy at Imaflora, emphasized that deforestation in Brazil must be combated throughout the national territory, in all biomes. “To end this practice, there are many challenges, such as finding solutions that meet the needs of large, medium and small companies, reaching indirect suppliers, and strengthening public policies to fight illegality,” she highlighted. “New regulations and trends towards greater control of the supply chain will demand changes in the way countries, companies and civil society interact to find solutions to these challenges,” she stated.
For Catharina Pires, Head of Corporate Affairs Latam at Nutrien, although there has been progress in recent decades in combating deforestation, it is necessary to go further. “This study is important so that new companies can learn about the sector's success stories in Brazil and be inspired by these initiatives. But beyond having this basis for developing their own projects, it is important to think about solutions to create alliances in the agricultural chain and include small and medium-sized producers in this sustainable journey. Inclusive agriculture is one of our values, and we believe that the link between retail and distribution in the agricultural chain, for example, can play an important role in advancing a sustainable culture,” explained Catharina.
Professor Raoni Rajão highlighted the challenge of formulating solutions that serve the entire sector, not just one company or group of companies. “It’s possible to clearly see the organizations that are truly making progress in combating deforestation and how they are implementing solutions to monitor their direct suppliers, but the value chain is much more complex. Therefore, it’s crucial to emphasize the need for governmental information infrastructures that provide transparency to the entire sector, so that informed decisions can be made,” he pointed out.
