Realtime Deforestation Monitoring Report (RDM 13) – June 2023

RDM 13 highlights seven cases in the Cerrado and Amazon biomes, which are mainly linked with soy supply chains. These cases compound a total of 13,107 hectares of deforestation, 80 fire alerts, and around 2.4 million tons of CO2 emissions. Four of the cases included constitute potentially non-compliant cases with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which enters into force today (29 June 2023).

The report gathers cases of visually confirmed deforestation events occurring between October 2022 and May 2023 for which deforestation alerts were detected in May 2023. The seven cases reported are located in the Brazilian states of Piauí, Bahia and Mato Grosso and they have been connected, with different levels of certainty, to large soy traders, namely Amaggi, Bunge, Cargill, Cofco, LDC, and Viterra, and/or to large meatpackers, such as JBS.

The EUDR prohibits commodities and products that have been produced in plots of land subjected to deforestation or forest degradation after 31 December 2020 from being placed in the EU market. Operators and traders that fail to comply with this requirement may face penalties once the core provisions of the law are applicable.

The CO2 emissions reported refer to above-ground carbon emissions and they vary according to the type of vegetation cleared, the ratio of molecular weight of carbon dioxide to carbon, and the amount of vegetation hectares cleared.

RDM reports are developed to support a wide range of actors – commodity producers and traders, financial sector stakeholders, and civil society – in taking evidence-based action towards real-time deforestation events. AidEnvironment publishes RDM reports monthly with support from EU LIFE Program and the European Climate Foundation.

The RDM report aim to:

  • Raise awareness on recent deforestation and fire events linked to global commodities’ supply chains
  • Engage commodity producers and traders on real-time deforestation events, and urge them to respond — especially those with commitments to halt deforestation in their supply chains
  • Support stakeholders in the financial sector and civil society with granular data needed in their due diligence and engagement with companies
  • Increase transparency in commodity sectors, particularly on companies’ no-deforestation commitments and how this is implemented on the ground.

RDM reports are developed to support a wide range of actors – commodity producers and traders, financial sector stakeholders, and civil society – in taking evidence-based action towards real-time deforestation events. AidEnvironment publishes RDM reports monthly with support from EU LIFE Program and the European Climate Foundation.