Using supply chain data to monitor zero deforestation commitments: an assessment of progress in the Brazilian soy sector

Abstract

Zero deforestation commitments (ZDCs) are voluntary initiatives where companies or countries pledge to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains. These commitments offer much promise for sustainable commodity production, but are undermined by a lack of transparency about their coverage and impacts. Here, using state-of-the-art supply chain data, we introduce an approach to evaluate the impact of ZDCs, linking traders and international markets to commodity-associated deforestation in the sub-national jurisdictions from which they source. We focus on the Brazilian soy sector, where we find that ZDC coverage is increasing, but under-represents the Cerrado biome where most soy-associated deforestation currently takes place. Though soy-associated deforestation declined in the Amazon after the introduction of the Soy Moratorium, we observe no change in the exposure of companies or countries adopting ZDCs to soy-associated deforestation in the Cerrado. We further assess the formulation and implementation of these ZDCs and identify several systematic weaknesses that must be addressed to increase the likelihood that they achieve meaningful reductions in deforestation in future. As the 2020 deadline for several of these commitments approaches, our approach can provide independent monitoring of progress toward the goal of ending commodityassociated deforestation.

Estimating the Potential for Conservation and Farming in the Amazon and Cerrado under Four Policy Scenarios

“…In the absence of cattle traceability information, ranchers with deforestation can either move cattle to regions not yet monitored by the CA (leakage) or send the cattle to farms free of deforestation prior to sale to a slaughterhouse that has signed the CA (laundering). However, recent efforts have tried to connect animal movement data with farm boundaries to better understand the characteristics of Brazil's cattle supply chain and to pinpoint solutions to reduce deforestation for beef production in the country [31,32,36,37].…”

“…Second, the fact that the ASM and CA, which some studies indicate have had a positive effect in the Amazon [19,20,33,37,[63][64][65][66], are not applied within the Cerrado biome further confounds efforts to regulate clearing. To that end, numerous scientists and key stakeholders have called for new agreements for the Cerrado to stave off clearing in the region, much of which may be permissible under the FC [14,67].…”

The origin, supply chain, and deforestation risk of Brazil’s beef exports

“…Despite a growing body of research, we still have a poor understanding of the impact of commodity supply chains on socioeconomic outcomes and environmental impacts in producer regions (9), the relative role of international and domestic markets in driving these impacts (10), and whether supply chain initiatives, such as corporate sustainable sourcing practices or zero deforestation commitments are achieving improvements on the ground (11). Previous research efforts have relied on data that are limited either in scale or in detail (12), being case studies of a specific company's supply chain or global analyses using coarse national-level statistics and lacking detail on supply chain configurations-the companies who mediate the production, processing, storage, and trade of these products and are key to the implementation of more sustainable trade and sourcing practices.…”

A survey of GHG mitigation policies for the agriculture, forestry and other land use sector

“…The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) recently completed consultations (10 January 2020) on ''Ag-climatise'': A Draft National Climate and Air Roadmap for the Agriculture Sector to 2030 and Beyond" (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, 2019 [34]). The roadmap aims to translate the targets set for the AFOLU sector in the Climate Action Plan into more detailed actions and targets for 6 Ireland did not meet its ESD annual targets in 2016 or 2017, and projections suggest that non-ETS emissions will only be 5% below 2005 levels in 2020 (Environmental Protection Agency, 2019 [35]). This is driven primarily by increasing emissions from transport and agriculture.…”

“…Agriculture accounts for 45% of non-ETS emissions in Ireland. Agriculture's share of non-ETS emissions is expected to increase to 50.8% by 2030, as other non-ETS sectors are expected to decarbonise at a faster rate (Environmental Protection Agency, 2019[35]). 6…”