There recently was a video circulating twitter that captured the raging fires destroying the Amazon rain forest. While the video wasn’t shared in full context, it has come to the forefront of social media that Brazil’s president is allowing this. The fires aren’t naturally occurring, they are being set on purpose to clear land for soy farming.
Brazil has been taking advantage of the rising soy industry. It is becoming more common and desired by consumers, so many supermarket companies as well as other stores and restaurants have signed contracts with soy producers in Brazil. They, like the rest of the world, weren’t happy when is came to light that Brazil’s president was burning away one of the most vital sinks for carbon dioxide. There was a rule in place prohibiting the overseas sale of soy from recently cleared land in attempts to limit deforestation. It is obvious now that this rule was overlooked, and British companies and investors are not happy about it.
Over sixty-seven companies in the UK that have contracts with soy producers have written the president of Brazil in attempts to persuade him to end the deforestation he is allowing. The firms don’t want to cut their soy contracts with Brazil, but they have warned that they will if the soy is sourced from deforested land. It is bad for consumer-company trust. Many people buying soy products like soy milk and tofu have made it a priority to be environmentally conscious. They would be unhappy to hear that their products were the reason the Amazon rain forest was being destroyed.
If Brazil does not stop the deforestation, they will lose major contracts with big brands like Aldi, Waitrose, and Mars. This will hurt the Brazilian economy and make way for another nation to ethically produce and sell soy.
This is relevant to our class because we are talking about sustainability and weighing options. Brazil can chose to continue destroying the rain forest to grow soy. In that case, they will lose many European investors, but they will continue to be able to sell their product to China and a few other Asian countries. But is there enough profit to go around if they make that choice? Their other option is to end the deforestation and either make do with the land they dedicate to soy already, or sacrifice another industry in order to keep soy their main priority.
It is difficult to see the long term economic repercussions, but environmentally, it is clear that we need the Amazon. With climate change being such a present issue, we cannot stand to lose that important a natural mechanism.