Palm oil production in Brazilian Amazon threatens no deforestation, no exploitation commitments

Oil palm growers in Brazil have argued that palm oil production is a “green solution” to safeguard the Amazon as a result of planting on areas already degraded and cleared only before 2008. While palm oil production in the Brazilian Amazon has relatively lower environmental impacts than soy and beef, our new joint publication Palm oil Production in Brazilian Amazon Threathens NDPE Commitments under our Chain Reaction Research programme shows how also palm oil expansion can be linked to deforestation, fires, exploitative labour conditions, and land disputes. Chain Reaction Research found 1,224 hectares (ha) of deforestation between 2008-2021 on the plantations of nine Brazilian key palm growers. Particularly palm producer Brasil BioFuels was responsible for most of the deforestation that occurred in this period, with the majority cleared in 2019 and 2020.

For more information please contact Sarah Drost