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Olam’s oil palm development in Gabon violated Forest Stewardship Council’s deforestation rules
Olam’s oil palm development in Gabon violated Forest Stewardship Council’s deforestation rules.
FSC ‘Policy for Association’ complaint against Olam Group’s deforestation in Gabon
An independent assessment commissioned by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has concluded that Olam Palm Gabon cleared over 24,000 hectares of forest, as well as between 900 and 1,823 hectares of non-forest areas with High Conservation Values, in violation with the FSC Policy for Association. This was the basis of the complaint Mighty Earth filed with the FSC in 2016.
The Executive Summary of the SmartCert assessment are published on the FSC website: English, French and Spanish.
FSC, Olam and Mighty Earth have issued a joint statement on the SmartCert assessment and next steps of the complaint resolution process here.
Complaint History
- In December 2016, Mighty Earth filed a complaint with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), detailing evidence that Olam had cleared large areas of rainforest for oil palm and rubber plantation3 development in Gabon and, as a result, violated the FSC Policy of Association - which ‘clearly define FSC’s ability to take such action against companies that engage in any one of the activities listed as unacceptable’, which include deforestation and the destruction of High Conservation Values (HCVs).
- In January 2017, Mighty Earth and Olam took part in a mediation process, facilitated by the World Resources Institute (WRI), which aimed to find an agreement on the recommendations and concerns highlighted in the complaint.
- Since January 2017, Olam has maintained a moratorium on any forest clearance.
- Also in 2017 Olam, Mighty Earth and a coalition of civil society organizations agreed to collaborate on forest conservation and sustainable agriculture. Following a field trip to Gabon, the parties released a joint statement, which was renewed in 2018.
- In May 2019, instead of proceeding with a formal Policy for Association investigation, FSC, Mighty Earth and Olam entered into an Alternative Dispute Resolution process, enabling dialogue between the parties, to address the issues raised in the complaint, through constructive dialogue and mediation.
- In April 2020, the FSC commissioned SmartCert (Canada) to ‘provide a third-party assessment on the alleged violation by Olam of FSC’s Policy for Association, as part of an Alternative Dispute Resolution process.’ The assessment below covers Olam’s oil palm operations in Gabon. A separate FSC investigation into rubber is yet to take place.
- In August 2022 SmartCert completed its assessment. The Executive Summary of the full report in English, French and Spanish are published on the FSC website.
- For further information on the FSC process see FSC’s case history and FSC’s FAQs about the ‘Processing of FSC Policy for Association Complaints.’
Complaint Findings
Context for findings on High Conservation Values (HCVs): The FSC defines HCVs as biological, ecological, social or cultural values of critical importance or outstanding significance within a landscape which require additional protective measures or safeguards to ensure their long-term maintenance. The six categories of HCVs are: 1. Species diversity; 2. Landscape-level ecosystems and mosaics; 3. Ecosystems and habitats; 4. Ecosystem services; 5. Community needs, and 6. Cultural value. FSC.org
SmartCert findings:
- Between January 2012 – December 2016, Olam converted 24,133 hectares (ha) of forest into oil palm plantations.
- Impacts on areas relating to species, habitats, and ecosystem services: (i.e., HCV categories 1- 4)1 between 1,377 and 2,300 hectares (ha), as follows:
- Olam’s Lot 1, Lot 2, and Awala concessions: 413 ha of HCV 1 - 4 were converted into oil palm plantations.
- Olam’s Mouila Lot 3 and extension concessions: an additional 64 ha of forest in HCV 1 – 4 and between 900 ha and 1,823 ha in non-forest areas were converted into oil palm plantations.
- Impacts of oil palm conversion on areas relating to community needs and cultural values (i.e., HCV categories 5 – 6):
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- ‘FPIC processes were implemented by Olam which obtained the prior consent of communities in exchange for compensation (except in Bemboudié). According to our sampling, Olam has fulfilled the majority (≈85%) of its compensation commitments, including hiring local workers and investing in community projects. However, at the time of our visit, many of the funded infrastructures were degraded and the work conditions offered to workers were criticized.’
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- ‘no evidence that communities were provided the opportunity to classify use areas as being fundamental to meeting their basic needs (HCV 5) and to delineate protection buffers around them.’
- ‘no definitive evidence that communities agreed to abandon all the cultural sites (potential HCV 6) destroyed during the plantation development’.
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- Within all concessions, just over half of the areas identified as being fundamental to meeting the basic needs of local communities (i.e., potential HCV 5) have been maintained, 32% were perceived as degraded and 12% have been converted.
- 78% of areas identified as being critical to local communities’ traditional cultural identity (i.e. potential HCV 6) have been maintained, 4% have been degraded and 18% have been converted.
Complaint Resolution Process
As part of the Alternate Dispute Resolution process, the FSC will now hire a third-party to mediate dialogue between Olam and Mighty Earth with the objective of resolving the complaint. The process seeks to determine how Olam will provide ‘full remedy of all environmental and social harms’, in line with FSC’s Remedy Framework which ‘defines permanent and effective measures required for remedy of harm caused by unacceptable activities as defined by the Policy for the Association’.
Amanda Hurowitz, Senior Director at Mighty Earth said:
“The SmartCert assessment concluded that Olam Palm Gabon cleared over 24,000 hectares of forest, as well as between 900 and 1,823 hectares of non-forest areas with High Conservation Values (categories 1-4) in its Moulia Lot 3 concessions, in non-compliance with the FSC Policy for Association. This was the basis of the complaint we raised with the FSC six years ago. We look forward to beginning mediated discussions with Olam about what remedial actions the company needs to take to address the environmental and social harms resulting from its oil palm development.”
Civil society calls for JBS to be stripped of A minus climate rating
Civil society calls for JBS to be stripped of A minus climate rating
Environmental disclosure group CDP raised Brazilian meat giant’s climate score despite JBS’s huge climate emissions and dire deforestation record
Letter to CDP_JBS Score complaint_16 March 2023
A global coalition of twenty civil society groups is calling for CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) to revoke the recent A minus score and “Leadership” status awarded to meat giant JBS for its efforts on addressing climate change, amid widespread concerns over rampant greenwashing. Led by Mighty Earth, some of the biggest CSOs, including the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy (IATP), Friends of the Earth, Compassion in World Farming, Soil Association and Rainforest Foundation Norway, have joined forces to call out the high grading.
Background
CDP is a global disclosure system used by investors, companies, cities, and regions to measure and act on their climate and environmental impacts. The system is widely regarded as one of the gold standards of environmental reporting, but its approach depends on self-declared responses, raising concerns from CSOs about the accuracy of scores being awarded to companies.
According to CDP, organisations earning a score in the top “Leadership” level “must show environmental leadership, disclosing action on climate change, deforestation or water security” and companies awarded an A minus are “implementing current best practices.” In the case of JBS, this could not be further from the truth. Analysis shows JBS is the single largest corporate greenhouse gas emitter in the animal agriculture sector and the biggest corporate driver of deforestation in Brazil.
Greenwashing claims
JBS has been accused of greenwashing in a whistle-blower complaint to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed by Mighty Earth. Evidence highlights that $3.2 billion worth of “green bonds” issued by JBS were misleading to investors and allegedly fraudulent. The meat giant has pledged to be net zero by 2040 but independent researchers found it lacks any meaningful decarbonisation plan. Meanwhile, JBS continues to promote its improved climate change rating from CDP, and regularly cites its CDP score with investors. Notably, JBS did not make its 2022 Climate Change response to CDP public.
Alex Wijeratna, Senior Director at Mighty Earth said:
“This is a serious case of greenwashing by JBS, who are promoting their new A minus climate score to attract investors. It’s highly misleading for JBS, a notorious Amazon forest destroyer, and one of the world’s largest climate polluters, to receive CDP’s top climate ‘Leadership’ rating.”
“We’re also seriously concerned that JBS may have misreported in its CDP 2022 Forests disclosure, claiming zero hectares of known or estimated deforestation in its cattle supply chain since 2008. This despite a litany of reports and confirmed cases of deforestation linked to JBS beef supplies since then. We’re urging CDP to withdraw JBS’ A minus Climate Change score immediately and to more broadly reassess its climate scoring methodology.”
Shefali Sharma, Director of the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy’s European office said:
“JBS has the largest climate footprint compared to all other livestock companies with a goal to achieve net zero ten years earlier than others. Yet it consistently refuses to publish its full scope of emissions, let alone the number of animals in its supply chain. There’s a fundamental flaw in the current voluntary system of corporate climate governance in that CDP derives over 30% of its revenue from the companies it appraises. We need robust rules for corporate emissions reporting and verification that result in independent appraisal and the elimination of conflicts of interest.”
Nusa Urbancic, Campaigns Director at Changing Markets said:
“JBS getting a high climate score points to the glaring methodology gap of third-party scoring organisations, like CDP. Our research indicates that JBS alone is responsible for methane emissions comparable to combined livestock methane emissions of France, Germany, Canada, and New Zealand, yet lacks any plan to address or even adequately report these potent emissions. We desperately need governments to step in, set climate targets and harmonised rules for reporting for big meat industry giants that are heating up our planet.”
CDP’s contribution to environmental transparency is widely recognised worldwide. However, it is evident that rather than relying on voluntary self-reporting alone, CDP’s scoring methodology needs to consider the public evidence available to ensure accurate scores are awarded. Updates to CDP’s scoring approach should include:
- Independent evaluation of companies’ performance on measuring and reducing emissions, not just paper commitments and self-reporting.
- All companies to undergo risk evaluations and any adjustments to scores be openly communicated.
- All submissions to be made publicly available to enable independent third-party verification and to avoid underreporting or greenwashing.
- A scoring methodology with specific criteria that prioritise performance and must be met for companies to achieve a score within each of CDP’s scoring levels.
- Food and Agricultural sectors report total animal slaughter numbers and milk intake to support an accurate Scope 3 emissions figure.
Ends
Notes to Editors
Links to analysis of JBS’ performance and practices:
Emissions
- Recent analysis from the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy (IATP) and Changing Markets Foundation estimates JBS’s total emissions to be 288 MtCO2e, exceeding the entire emissions of Spain in 2021.
- JBS ranked top position in a list of 15 of the world’s largest meat and dairy companies for its methane emissions.
- JBS currently fails to report its complete ‘Scope 3’ emissions: producing meat throughout its entire supply chain, where most of its climate impact lies.
- Mighty Earth say JBS has failed to disclose the number of cattle and other animals it slaughters annually since 2017, which is crucial for evaluating its emissions claims.
Deforestation
- JBS ranks the worst performing company in Mighty Earth’s Soy & Cattle Deforestation Tracker, achieving only one point out of a possible 100.
- Chain Reaction Research estimated that JBS’s deforestation footprint in Brazil is up to 200,000 hectares in its direct supply chain, and 1.5 million hectares in its indirect supply chain since 2008.
- Global Witness, Greenpeace, and EIA (Environmental Investigation Agency) highlighted JBS’s continued links to illegal deforestation, operating illegally on protected Indigenous land, and/or making purchases linked to human rights abuses.
- Despite the numerous links to deforestation, some of which JBS recently admitted to, JBS reported that”0 hectares of known or estimated deforestation/conversion” have occurred for cattle products since 2008 in its 2022 CDP Forests disclosure, for which it scored a B.
- JBS does not plan to eliminate deforestation across its global supply chain until 2035 – giving suppliers 13 more years to bulldoze.
Emissions targets and alleged greenwashing
- In 2021, JBS committed to becoming “Net Zero” across its entire value chain by 2040, but the true scope of the pledge is unclear, given the company grossly underreports its Scope 3 emissions.
- JBS’s 2030 emission reduction target for Scope 1 and 2 is highly ambiguous and misleading, as it is unclear if the company aims for absolute or emissions intensity reductions.
- JBS were asked to remove the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) logo it previously cited on the Achievements and Certifications page of its website, despite SBTi not having validated its targets. JBS’s lack of measurement and reporting on Scope 3 emissions contradicts the criteria set by the SBTi, which requires companies to set Scope 3 targets if these emissions make up over 40% of the company’s overall GHG footprint.
- A complaint to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed by Mighty Earth accuses JBS of misleading investors and calls for a full investigation into $3.2 billion worth of “green bonds” issued by the company. The evidence highlights that JBS’s “Sustainability-Linked bonds” were misleading to investors and allegedly fraudulent.
No meaningful decarbonisation plans
- An evaluation of companies’ climate pledges by the New Climate Institute and Carbon Market Watch ranked JBS “Very low” in both its “Integrity” & “Transparency” categories, for the second year running. The assessment of JBS's overall net zero efforts concludes: "The company plans to continue growth in a GHG emission-intensive industry; we did not find evidence of any planned deep decarbonisation measures. JBS does not have an emission reduction target alongside its net-zero emission target for 2040. Its interim targets for 2030 would lead to a 3% emission reduction compared to its reported 2021 emissions."
- Instead of JBS’s emissions footprint shrinking as it heads toward “Net Zero,” recent estimates by IATP and Changing Markets continue to show it has grown by a minimum of 17% between 2016 and 2021.
- JBS does not have any methane action plan that would align with the Global Methane Pledge, nor does it report its methane emissions, as recommended in the UN report on Net Zero Commitments.
For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:
Carole Mitchell, Senior Director of Communications (based UK)
+44 7917 105000
Syd Jones, Press Secretary (based US EST)
+1 561 809 5522
Cecelia Brackey, Media, and Communications Manager at IATP (based US, CST)
+ 1 651-328-4706
Nusa Urbancic, Campaigns Director at Changing Markets (based UK)
About Mighty Earth
Mighty Earth is a global advocacy organization working to defend a living planet. Our goal is to protect half of Earth for Nature and secure a climate that allows life to flourish. We are obsessed with impact and aspire to be the most effective environmental advocacy organization in the world. Our team has achieved transformative change by persuading leading industries to dramatically reduce deforestation and climate pollution throughout their global supply chains in palm oil, rubber, cocoa, and animal feed, while improving livelihoods for Indigenous and local communities across the tropics.
Sociedade civil pede que JBS seja rebaixada da classificação climática "A-"
Sociedade civil pede que JBS seja rebaixada da classificação climática "A-"
Organizações reivindicam que, apesar dos enormes impactos climáticos das operações da JBS, incluindo o aumento do desmatamento, o grupo de divulgação ambiental CDP elevou a pontuação sobre Mudanças Climáticas da gigante brasileira da carne.
São Paulo, 29 de março de 2023 – Uma coalizão global de quase vinte grupos da sociedade civil está pedindo que o CDP (conhecido anteriormente como Carbon Disclosure Project) revogue a recente pontuação “A-” e o status de "Liderança" concedido à gigante de processamento de carne JBS por seu desempenho no enfrentamento das mudanças climáticas. Liderados pela organização Mighty Earth, alguns dos maiores e mais atuantes grupos, incluindo a Proteção Animal Mundial, o Instituto de Agricultura e Política Comercial (IATP), a Compassion in World Farming, a Soil Association e a Rainforest Foundation Norway, uniram forças para chamar a atenção para a alta classificação.
Para a Mighty Earth, a JBS está longe de ser uma liderança no combate às mudanças do clima, a classificação concedida pelo CDP é errada e enganosa. Ainda assim, a JBS vem promovendo essa desacreditada pontuação como forma de atrair novos investidores. “Ao invés disso, a empresa deveria estar mais preocupada em divulgar para a sociedade as suas emissões de gases de efeito estufa dentro do ´Escopo 3´, que concentra a maior parte de seu impacto climático, e o número de bovinos e outros animais que abate anualmente, trazendo transparência para as suas alegadas emissões”, afirma o diretor da Mighty Earth no Brasil, João Gonçalves, lembrando que desde 2017 a JBS não divulga os seus números de abate.
Em carta enviada ao fundador do CDP, Paul Dickson, as organizações signatárias listam uma série de fatores que justificam o rebaixamento da JBS. Entre eles, está a falta de um plano significativo de descarbonização, apesar do comprometimento da empresa em zerar as suas emissões líquidas até 2040. Pela falta de transparência da JBS, a Divisão Nacional de Publicidade do Better Business Bureau (BBB), nos Estados Unidos, considerou que as promessas da empresa são infundadas. Além disso, inúmeros relatórios de organizações como Global Witness, Greenpeace, Environmental Investigation Agency, entre outras, relatam as contínuas ligações da JBS com o desmatamento ilegal na Amazônia e no Cerrado, operações ilegais em Terras Indígenas (TI) e compras ligadas a abusos de direitos humanos. Veja aqui todas as alegações contidas na a carta.
Letter to CDP_JBS Score Complaint_16 March 2023-PT version (1)
Para a Proteção Animal Mundial, as mudanças climáticas devem ser combatidas com a diminuição da produção animal e a criação com alto nível de bem-estar. Pontos que claramente não são adotados pela JBS. “Hoje, aproximadamente dois terços da soja produzida no Brasil, uma das principais causas do desmatamento, e consequentemente das emissões brasileiras de gases de efeito estufa, é destinada à alimentação de animais, principalmente aves e suínos. Sendo a JBS um dos principais clientes dos fornecedores de grãos”, afirma a diretora-executiva da Proteção Animal Mundial no Brasil, Lisa Gunn.
Enquanto isso, a JBS promove a melhora da sua nota de mudanças climáticas no CDP para investidores e outras partes interessadas. Sistema de divulgação global usado por investidores, empresas e governos para medir e agir sobre seus impactos climáticos e ambientais, o CDP é amplamente reconhecido pelo seu alto padrão em relatórios ambientais, mas sua abordagem depende de respostas autodeclaradas, levantando preocupações sobre a precisão das pontuações concedidas às empresas.
De acordo com o CDP, as empresas que obtêm pontuação nível de “Liderança” devem “demonstrar liderança ambiental, divulgando ações sobre mudanças climáticas, desmatamento ou segurança hídrica” e as empresas premiadas com A- estão “implementando as melhores práticas atuais”. No caso da JBS, isso não poderia estar mais longe da verdade. Diferentes análises mostram que a JBS é a empresa que mais emite gases de efeito estufa no setor de pecuária e a maior impulsionadora do desmatamento no Brasil. Assim, a classificação equivocada dada pelo CDP, que não reflete com precisão o impacto ambiental e climático da JBS, coloca em risco a própria reputação do grupo, além de implicações mais amplas dessas pontuações desacreditadas para investidores e outras partes interessadas.
FIM
Notas aos Editores:
Veja o explicador de pontuação do CDP here
Links para análise do desempenho e das práticas da JBS
Emissões
- Uma análise recente do Instituto de Política Agrícola e Comercial (IATP) e da Changing Markets Foundation estima que as emissões totais da JBS sejam de 288 MtCO2e, superando todas as emissões da Espanha em 2021.
- A JBShttps://www.iatp.org/emissions-impossible-methane-editionhttps://www.iatp.org/emissions-impossible-methane-edition lidera a lista de 15 das maiores empresas de carne e laticínios do mundo por suas emissões de metano. posição de topo em uma lista de 15 das maiores empresas de carne e laticínios do mundo por suas emissões de metano.
- Atualmente, a JBS não informa suas emissões completas do "Escopo 3": produzir carne onde está a maior parte de seu impacto climático.
- A Mighty Earth diz que a JBS não divulgou o número de bovinos e outros animais que abate anualmente desde 2017, o que é crucial para avaliar suas reivindicações de emissões.
Desmatamento
- A JBS é a empresa com pior desempenho no Rastreador de Desmatamento de Soja e Gado da Mighty Earth, alcançando apenas um ponto em 100 possíveis.
- A Chain Reaction Research estimou que a pegada de desmatamento da JBS no Brasil é de até 200 mil hectares em sua cadeia de suprimentos diretos e 1,5 milhão de hectares em sua cadeia de suprimentos indireta desde 2008.
- A Global Witness, o Greenpeace e a EIA (Agência de Investigação Ambiental) destacaram as ligações contínuas da JBS com o desmatamento ilegal, operando ilegalmente em terras indígenas protegidas e/ou fazendo compras ligadas a abusos de direitos humanos.
- Apesar das inúmeras ligações com o desmatamento, algumas das quais a JBS admitiu recentemente, a JBS informou que "0 hectares de desmatamento/conversão conhecidos ou estimados" ocorreram para produtos pecuários desde 2008 em sua divulgação CDP Forests 2022https://www.cdp.net/en/responses?queries[name]=jbs, para a qual obteve um B.
- A JBS não planeja eliminar o desmatamento em toda a sua cadeia de suprimentos global até 2035 – dando aos fornecedores mais 13 anos para demolir.
Metas de emissões e alegada lavagem verde
- Em 2021, a JBS se comprometeu a se tornar "Net Zero" em toda a sua cadeia de valor até 2040, mas o verdadeiro escopo do compromisso não está claro, uma vez que a empresa subestima grosseiramente suas emissões de Escopo 3.
- A Divisão Nacional de Publicidade do Better Business Bureau (BBB) divulgou uma conclusão de que as múltiplas alegações da JBS de que está no caminho para atingir emissões "líquidas zero" até 2040 são infundadas e que a empresa deve interrompê-las.
- A meta de redução de emissões da JBS para 2030 para os Escopos 1 e 2 é altamente ambígua e enganosa, pois não está claro se a empresa visa reduções absolutas ou de intensidade de emissões.
- A JBS cita o logotipo da iniciativa Metas Baseadas na Ciência (SBTi) na página Conquistas e Certificações de seu site, apesar de a SBTi não ter validado suas metas. A falta de medição e de relatórios da JBS sobre as emissões do Escopo 3 contradiz o https://sciencebasedtargets.org/resources/files/SBTiFLAGGuidance.pdf
- Uma queixa à Comissão de Valores Mobiliários dos EUA (SEC) apresentada pela Mighty Earth acusa a JBS de enganar os investidores e pede uma investigação completa sobre US$ 3,2 bilhões em "títulos verdes" emitidos pela empresa. As evidências destacam que os "Títulos Vinculados à Sustentabilidade" da JBS eram enganosos para os investidores e supostamente fraudulentos.
Sem planos de descarbonização
- Uma avaliação das promessas climáticas das empresas feita pelo New Climate Institute e pelo Carbon Market Watch classificou a JBS como "Muito baixa" em transparência e integridade. A avaliação não encontrou evidências de nenhuma medida de descarbonização profunda planejada pela JBS – mas diz que a JBS planeja continuar o crescimento em uma indústria intensiva em emissões de GEE.
- Em vez de a pegada de emissões da JBS encolher à medida que se aproxima do "Net Zero", estimativas recentes da IATP e da Changing Markets continuam a mostrar que ela cresceu no mínimo 17% entre 2016 e 2021.
- A JBS não possui nenhum plano de ação de metano que se alinhe ao Global Methane Pledge, nem informa suas emissões de metano, conforme preconizado no relatório da ONU sobre Compromissos Líquidos Zero.
Para mais informações ou para marcar uma entrevista, por favor contacte:
João Gonçalves, Diretor Sênior Brasil (Mighty Earth)
+55 11 98255 3876 | [email protected]
Filipe Peduzzi, Gerente de Comunicações Interino (Proteção Animal Mundial)
+55 11 99891-9413 | [email protected]
Sobre a Mighty Earth
A Mighty Earth é uma organização global, com sede nos Estados Unidos, que trabalha para defender um planeta vivo. Nosso objetivo é proteger metade do planeta Terra para a natureza e garantir um clima que permita que a vida floresça. Somos obcecados por impacto e aspiramos ser a organização de defesa ambiental mais eficaz do mundo. Nossa equipe já alcançou mudanças transformadoras persuadindo as principais indústrias a reduzir drasticamente o desmatamento e a poluição climática em todas as suas cadeias de suprimentos globais em óleo de palma, borracha, cacau e ração animal, ao mesmo tempo em que melhora os meios de subsistência das comunidades indígenas e locais.
Sobre a Proteção Animal Mundial
A Proteção Animal Mundial é a voz global do bem-estar animal, com mais de 70 anos de experiência em campanhas por um mundo no qual os animais vivam livres de crueldade e sofrimento. Temos escritórios em 12 países e desenvolvemos trabalhos em 47 países ao todo. Colaboramos com comunidades locais, com o setor privado, com a sociedade civil e governos para mudar a vida dos animais para melhor. Nosso objetivo é mudar a maneira como o mundo trabalha para acabar com a crueldade e o sofrimento dos animais selvagens e de produção. Por meio de nossa estratégia global de sistema alimentar, vamos acabar com a pecuária industrial intensiva e criar um sistema alimentar humano e sustentável, que coloca os animais em primeiro lugar. Ao transformar os sistemas falhos que impulsionam a exploração e a mercantilização, daremos aos animais silvestres o direito a uma vida silvestre. Nosso trabalho para proteger os animais desempenhará um papel vital na solução da emergência climática, da crise de saúde pública e da devastação de habitats naturais.
Chocolate Scorecard 2023: cocoa's impact on deforestation and climate
When biting into a bar of chocolate, many chocolate lovers have no idea where the raw ingredient, cocoa, comes from, nor the impact that its production has on nature and our changing climate.
The 2023 Chocolate Scorecard breaks this down for us by asking major chocolate brands, manufacturers, and traders what they know about their cocoa supply chains and the environmental impact.
A mixed bag of findings
This year’s top scorers for addressing deforestation and climate change in supply chains include Original Beans, Tony’s Chocolonely, Beyond Good, Halba, and Aldi. Whilst Kellogg, Daito Cacao, Glico, Starbucks, and Morinaga, are lagging in their application of no-deforestation policies and monitoring systems. Still, their willingness to engage in the scorecard does at least signify a desire to review and address the pitfalls of their environmental policies. This sets them apart from big brands such as Mondelez, Unilever and General Mills; and retailers like Tesco, Walmart, and Whole Foods, who refused to participate in this year’s survey, earning “broken egg” status. So, what are they hiding and why does it matter?
The true cost of Cocoa
Around 75% of the world’s cocoa comes from West Africa, with Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, the leading producers. In the last 60 years, these two countries have lost around 94% and 80% of their forests, respectively, with at-least one-third of forest loss to make way for expanding cocoa production.
Despite collaborative efforts to address the industry’s impact on nature, including the launch of the multistakeholder Cocoa & Forests Initiative (CFI) in 2017, cocoa-driven deforestation has continued to clear West Africa’s forests. The recent announcement of a renewed ‘CFI 2.0’ and the enforcement of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) in 2024, gives some hope for protecting and restoring what precious little is left. But any viable solution requires greater cooperation from chocolate companies to monitor and respond to deforestation in their supply chains.
On deforestation and climate: what are companies doing well?
- Monitoring systems are now embedded in most company sustainability initiatives – a vital step in the journey towards traceable supply chains. The use of ‘polygon mapping’ (marking the boundary of supplier cocoa farms) is now commonplace, with some companies employing more detailed systems such as waypoint monitoring or remote sensing technology.
- Collaboration to eradicate deforestation: Many of the participating companies have joined collaborative initiatives including: the 'Cocoa & Forest Initiative' (CFI); Initiatives for Sustainable Cocoa (ISCOs); and the Retailer Chocolate Collaboration (RCC). Joining these platforms is an encouraging and necessary first step to building sustainable solutions, but companies must go beyond this to transparently share supplier information, proactively initiate collective action on the ground, and work collaboratively with both local and international civil society actors.
- Net-Zero carbon emissions targets have been embraced by some companies, leading the way by setting the necessary short- and long-term objectives to ensure global temperature rise is limited to 1.5 degrees. We need more companies to follow suit and set time-bound policies to achieve net-zero carbon emissions for Scopes 1, 2 & 3 (emissions across the whole supply chain, including from indirect suppliers).
Where are they falling short?
- Limited use of satellite monitoring: Despite rapid advancements in monitoring technology over the past decade, few companies are making use of the widely available satellite or remote sensing tools. Companies are urged to take advantage of these tools and resources to track live deforestation in their supply chain and take preemptive action to stop or remediate this risk. Mighty Earth’s cocoa accountability maps track deforestation in real time and can act as a model for joint industry satellite monitoring systems.
- Inconsistent deforestation cut-off dates: The rising implementation of global deforestation-free cocoa and cross-commodity policies, signifies a positive trend in cocoa companies taking issues of deforestation and climate change in their supply chains seriously. However, some companies in this year’s scorecard indicated that they would continue sourcing cocoa from deforested areas until 2023 and beyond (despite the CFI cut-off date of 2017), highlighting the urgent need for a consistent approach. Policy means nothing without action. We need cocoa companies to make specific, consistent, and time-bound objectives for ending deforestation in their supply chains without delay.
- Inadequate grievance systems: Whilst many companies have some form of grievance redress mechanism, few are publicly accessible. There are therefore limited opportunities for environmental grievances to be logged by other stakeholders, including farmers and NGOs. Publicly available grievance mechanisms, where all stakeholders can raise complaints about company malpractice across the supply chain, help to strengthen due diligence systems and reduce risk.
Looking ahead
Sefwi Asempaneya: Ghana - an agroforestry landscape, where cocoa is integrated, and the value of standing trees is recognized
Many of the world’s largest cocoa companies are still at risk of sourcing deforestation cocoa. With the impending enforcement of the European Union Deforestation Regulation, chocolate companies need to take urgent, affirmative action to address deforestation in their supply chains, or risk being sanctioned for non-compliance. It is no longer acceptable to have less than 100% deforestation-free cocoa and, for that matter, 100% deforestation mapping.
Deforestation-free cocoa monitoring systems still need to be better implemented in cocoa-producing countries. But in the face of declining cocoa prices and government revenues; farmer poverty; increasing production costs; and countless other challenges, the burden cannot fall solely on cocoa producing farmers and governments who reap a small fraction of the industry’s rewards.
There is great potential here for companies to enhance their policies, monitoring, and actions. Companies that participated in the 2023 Scorecard are urged to continue to publicly share their sustainability objectives, initiatives, and achievements, as well as (crucially) their supply chain data. Doing so allows us all, as consumers, to keep them accountable and encourage other cocoa companies to improve their approaches to deforestation and climate change.
Authors:
- Stephanie Perkiss is a Senior Lecturer in Accounting at the University of Wollongong and explores social and environmental accounting and accountability in her research – you can either make yourself accountable or be made accountable by someone else!
- Sam Mawutor is a Ph.D. student at Oregon State University and a Senior Advisor at Might Earth. His research examines the cocoa agrarian question in southwestern Ghana.
Chocolate Scorecard 2023
팜유와 목재의 공룡 코린도, 시민 사회단체들을 침묵시키기 위한 장기 소송에서 철수
코린도의 사업은 목재, 종이, 고무, 팜유에서 재생 에너지에 이르기까지 전 세계로 뻗어 있다. 2016년, Mighty Earth, Rainforest Rescue, 그리고 몇몇 인도네시아와 한국의 비정부 기구(Non-Governmental Organizations, NGO)는 인도네시아 파푸아에서 팜유 사업을 하는 코린도의 방만한 삼림 벌채를 강조하는 서한에 서명했다. 해당 서한들은 독일에 있는 케너텍의 주요 풍력 타워 고객들에게 보내졌다.
2017년 Mighty Earth는 코린도가 파푸아에서 3만 ha 이상의 인도네시아 열대우림을 황폐화한 것과 관련하여 국제적 지속가능한 산림경영 인증기관인 국제산림관리협의회(Forest Stewardship Council, FSC)에 고발했다. FSC는 조사에 착수했다.1
2018년 코린도는 법무법인 LPA 싱가포르에 2016년도 서한에 서명한 단체 중 최소 7군데에 위협적인 이메일을 보내라고 지시했다. 그 내용은 다음과 같았다: '코린도의 정책은 -코린도의 사업 이익을 훼손할 의도나 영향력을 가지고- 코린도에 대한 잘못된 정보를 유포하거나 사실과 다른 공개 발언을 하는 개인이나 단체에 대해 법적 조치를 취하는 것이다. 따라서, 현재 코린도는 Mighty Earth에 대한 법적 조치를 시작하고 있다.'
2019년 코린도 케너텍의 독일 변호사2는 Mighty Earth의 재정 후원자였던 국제정책센터(Center for International Policy, CIP)와 독일 NGO Rettet den Regenwald (Rainforest Rescue)를 상대로 독일에서 명예훼손 소송을 제기했다. 케너텍의 독일 변호사는 Siemens AG (독일), Gamesa Corporation (현 Siemens Gamesa), Nordex SE (독일) 등 독일의 풍력 타워 고객들에게 보낸 편지의 진술이 코린도의 명예를 훼손한다고 주장했다.
2019년 코린도의 법률 대리인은 Mighty Earth의 2017년도 고발을 근거로 코린도의 정책 위반을 조사하던 FSC를 협박했다. 조사 결과 코린도는 지난 5년간 3만 ha 이상의 산림(축구장 42,000개에 해당)을 파괴했으며, FSC 규정을 위반해 원주민의 전통과 인권을 침해한 것으로 드러났다.3 조사에 따르면 ‘코린도는 인도네시아 파푸아의 원주민 공동체 소유의 토지에서 수확한 목재에 대한 과소 지급으로 3억 달러를 빼앗은 것’으로 추정된다.4
2021년 말, FSC는 코린도가 FSC와 협력하지 않고 임업과 팜유 사업의 문제점을 해결하는 절차에 합의하지 못한 것을 근거로 코린도의 회원 자격을 박탈했다.5
코린도, 합의에 동의하다
2023년 2월 21일 케너텍과 Rainforest Rescue는 독일 법원의 제안에 따라 3년 전 코린도가 부추킨 분쟁을 해결하기로 합의했다. 판사는 케너텍이 Mighty Earth가 서명한 편지의 진술을 바탕으로 CIP를 고소할 수 없다고 선언했다.
SLAPP 소송은 시민 사회단체들을 침묵시키고 위협하여 그들이 서신에서 일부 진술을 반복하는 것을 금지하도록, 그리고 위반 시 각각의 위반 사례에 대해 250,000유로의 벌금, 혹은 투옥에 처하도록 설계되었음이 분명하다.
SLAPP이란?
이 소송은 감시 단체, 활동가, 언론인, 노동조합, 언론 단체 및 공익을 대표하는 사람들을 괴롭히고 후원을 고갈시키기 위해 대기업 또는 유명 인사들이 제기하는 SLAPP(Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) 소송의 한 예이다.
Mighty Earth 동남아시아 담당 선임 이사인 Amanda Hurowitz는 말했다:
"Mighty Earth와 우리 NGO 동맹들을 침묵시키려는 코린도의 시도에는 전혀 근거가 없다. 3년만에 독일 법원이 이 사건의 기각을 준비하자, 코린도는 마침내 물러났다. 'Mighty Earth', 'CIP', 'Rainforest Rescue'는 코린도에 대한 손해배상과 기타 명령 준수를 면제받았고 소송비용 대부분은 코린도가 부담하기로 합의했다.”
"지구를 파괴하는 악덕 기업들이 팜유, 목재, 콩, 쇠고기와 기타 다른 상품 생산을 위해 자행하는 삼림 벌채는 기후를 변화시키고 자연을 망치고 있다. 이를 세계 차원에서 저지하는 시민 사회 단체들의 정당한 활동에 재갈을 물리려는 소송이 남발되어서는 안 된다. 그것은 법원의 시간을 낭비할 뿐이다.”
CIP와 Rainforest Rescue를 담당하는 독일 법무법인 Damm & Mann의 Roger Mann 교수는 이렇게 말했다:
"3년이 넘어 법원이 이 사건을 완전히 기각하려는 경향을 보이자 코린도는 법원이 제시한 합의 제안을 받아들였다. 법원은 초기 단계에서 CIP에 대한 주장과 두 피고에 대한 취소 청구는 전혀 실익이 없다는 것을 분명히 했다."
코린도의 불법 방화에 대한 진술과 관련하여 피고인들은 수많은 사실과 증거들을 제시했고, 법원이 인도네시아에서 증인 청문회를 고려할 정도였다. 그렇게 진행되지 않은 이유는 재판부가 재판관 교체 후 원고의 사업은 풍력 발전업이고, 코린도 팜유 사업에 관여하지 않았기 때문에 금지명령구제의 대상이 아니라 판단했기 때문이다."
Franky Samperante, Yayasan Pusaka (인도네시아)는 말했다:
"수십 년 동안, 코린도는 은밀하게 원주민들의 토지 권리를 침해해왔다. 코린도는 피해를 입은 파푸아 원주민 공동체의 권리를 존중하고 회복시켜야 하며, 지역 환경을 보호하기 위해 진지하게 헌신해야 한다."
Andi Muttaqien, Satya Bumi (인도네시아):
코린도는 수만 헥타르의 파푸아 열대우림을 파괴했다. 코린도는 숲과 원주민들을 보호하는 운동가들의 캠페인을 침묵시키기 위해 자원들을 낭비할 게 아니라, 자신들이 야기한 피해의 복구를 위해 그 자원과 돈을 사용해야 한다.
신영, 공익법센터 어필(한국)
"만약 코린도가 본인들의 신뢰성과 환경 및 인권 분야의 성과를 개선하는 데 진지하다면, 코린도는 자신들의 학대에 맞서려고 노력한 시민 사회단체들에 대한 법적 괴롭힘을 중단하고, 본인들이 파괴한 숲 서식지를 복구하고, 피해를 입은 파푸아 원주민 공동체에 배상해야 한다."
Ends
Notes to Editors:
1 FSC, Mighty Earth의 2017년 5월 고발 후 코린도에 대한 조사에 착수하다
2 변호인 Manner & Spangenberg Partnerschaft von Rechtsanwälten mbB, An der Alster 64, 20099 Hamburg, Germany, Ref.: 10025-003 SCM
3 2017년 12월 코린도 팜유 농장 관련한 FSC 고발 패널 현장 답사 후 코린도에 대한 FSC의 조사 결과 개요 FSC
4 Mongabay와 The Gecko Project가 FSC 고발 패널 보고서의 유출된 버전을 기반으로 한 보고.
5 FSC, 코린도의 회원자격 박탈을 발표하다. 2021년 10월 16일 FSC 보도자료
Akhirnya, Korindo Cabut Gugatan ‘SLAPP’ Tak Berdasar terhadap Sejumlah Organisasi Masyarakat Sipil
Hamburg, Jerman 21 Februari 2023 - Sebuah perusahaan milik grup usaha Korindo telah mengakhiri gugatan yang sudah berjalan lama, setelah hakim menunjukkan gelagat akan membatalkan gugatan tersebut. Gugatan PT Kenertec Power Systems jelas dimaksudkan untuk
membungkam kampanye masyarakat sipil untuk melindungi hutan hujan, di provinsi Papua Indonesia, yang terancam oleh operasi kelapa sawit Korindo yang ekstensif.
Latar Belakang
Bisnis Korindo tersebar di seluruh dunia, mulai dari kayu, kertas, karet, dan minyak sawit hingga energi terbarukan. Pada 2016, Mighty Earth, Rainforest Rescue (Rettet den Regenwald), dan
beberapa organisasi masyarakat sipil di Indonesia dan Korea menandatangani surat yang menyoroti deforestasi yang dilakukan Korindo dalam operasi kelapa sawitnya yang masif di Papua, Indonesia.
Surat-surat tersebut dikirim ke pelanggan PT Kenertec di Jerman.
Pada 2017 Mighty Earth mengajukan komplain kepada Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), sebuah badan sertifikasi kehutanan global, terkait pembabatan sekitar 30.000 hektar hutan tropis di Papua,
Indonesia, oleh Korindo. Kemudian FSC melakukan investigasi atas laporan tersebut. [1]
Pada 2018, Korindo menginstruksikan sebuah firma hukum Singapura untuk mengirimkan email berisikan somasi kepada sedikitnya tujuh organisasi yang menandatangani surat pada 2016 tersebut. Email tersebut menyatakan: “Kebijakan Korindo adalah melakukan tindakan hukum terhadap individu atau organisasi yang menyebarkan informasi yang tidak benar atau membuat pernyataan publik yang keliru secara faktual tentang Korindo - dengan maksud atau dampak untuk merusak kepentingan bisnis Korindo. Oleh karena itu, Korindo memproses tindakan hukum terhadap Mighty Earth.” Pada 2019, PT Kenertec Power Systems mengajukan gugatan pencemaran nama baik di Jerman, terhadap Center for International Policy (CIP), yang pernah menjadi sponsor fiskal Mighty Earth, dan lembaga non-profit Rettet den Regenwald (Rainforest Rescue) di Jerman. Pengacara Kenertec
menilai bahwa pernyataan dalam surat yang dikirim ke pelanggan menara angin di Jerman, yakni Siemens AG (Jerman), Gamesa Corporation (sekarang Siemens Gamesa) dan Nordex SE (Jerman), adalah sebuah fitnah.
Pada 2019, pengacara Korindo mengancam FSC yang tengah menyelidiki dugaan pelanggaran kebijakan Korindo berdasarkan pengaduan Mighty Earth pada 2017. Investigasi FSC mengungkap bahwa Korindo telah menghancurkan lebih dari 30.000 hektar hutan (atau setara dengan 42.000 lapangan sepak bola) di lima tahun sebelumnya dan melanggar hak masyarakat dan Hak Asasi Manusia, yang bertentangan dengan standar FSC. [2] Investigasi tersebut memperkirakan Korindo telah merugikan masyarakat adat sebesar 300 juta dolar AS, dengan membayar murah kayu yang
diambil dari tanah mereka. [3]
Pada akhir 2021, FSC mengeluarkan Korindo dari keanggotaan atas karena tidak kooperatif terhadap FSC dan gagal menyepakati ketentuan untuk menangani dampak kerusakan atas aktivitasnya terhadap hutan dan perkebunan kelapa sawitnya. [4]
Korindo Sepakat Akhiri Sengketa
Pada 21 Februari 2023, Kenertec dan Rainforest Rescue sepakat untuk menyelesaikan sengketa yang diajukan oleh Korindo tiga tahun lalu, berdasarkan usul yang diajukan oleh pengadilan Jerman. Hakim menyatakan bahwa Kenertec tidak dapat menuntut CIP atas pernyataan yang dibuat dalam surat yang ditandatangani oleh Mighty Earth.
Gugatan SLAPP yang diajukan pihak Korindo jelas dirancang untuk membungkam dan mengintimidasi kelompok masyarakat sipil dan mencegah mereka mengulangi beberapa pernyataan dalam surat, atau di denda €250.000 dalam setiap kasus pelanggaran, atau menghadapi hukuman penjara.
Gugatan SLAPP atau Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation adalah contoh Gugatan Strategis Melawan Partisipasi Publik, di mana perusahaan besar atau individu terkenal, mengajukan tuntutan hukum yang dirancang untuk melecehkan dan menguras sumber daya substansial dari organisasi pengawas, aktivis, jurnalis, serikat pekerja, organisasi media, dan mereka yang mewakili kepentingan publik.
Direktur Senior Mighty Earth untuk Asia Tenggara, Amanda Hurowitz mengatakan, dalam kasus ini upaya Korindo untuk membungkam Mighty Earth dan koalisi organisasi masyarakat sipil, sejak awal sama sekali tidak berdasar. “Akhirnya setelah tiga tahun, saat pengadilan Jerman akan membatalkan gugatan tersebut, Korindo mencabut gugatannya. Mereka setuju untuk menyelesaikan gugatan ini tanpa ganti rugi atau perintah pengadilan yang diberikan melawan Mighty Earth, CIP atau Rainforest Rescue dan mereka setuju untuk membayar sebagian besar biaya pengadilan,” tuturnya.
“Perusahaan nakal yang menghancurkan bumi ini tidak boleh dibiarkan menyia-nyiakan waktu pengadilan dengan manuver gugatan yang ditujukan untuk mengintimidasi kelompok masyarakat sipil yang selama ini menyuarakan penghentian deforestasi global dari ekspansi sektor minyak kelapa sawit, kayu, kedelai, daging sapi, dan komoditas lainnya, demi mengatasi perubahan iklim dan rusaknya alam,” lanjut Amanda.
Professor Roger Mann, pengacara Jerman untuk CIP dan Rainforest Rescue menyatakan:
“Setelah lebih dari tiga tahun gugatan ini berjalan, Korindo kemudian menerima proposal penyelesaian yang diajukan pengadilan. Pengadilan telah memperjelas, pada tahap awal, bahwa tuntutan terhadap CIP dan pencabutan terhadap kedua tergugat sama sekali tidak berdasar.” “Terkait tuntutan ganti rugi sehubungan dengan pernyataan tentang pembakaran ilegal oleh Korindo, para tergugat telah mengajukan banyak fakta dan memberikan banyak bukti sehingga pengadilan mempertimbangkan untuk mendengarkan saksi di Indonesia. Hal ini tidak terjadi karena, setelah pergantian hakim, pengadilan menyatakan bahwa penggugat tidak berhak mendapatkan ganti rugi, karena bisnisnya adalah turbin angin, dan tidak terlibat dalam bisnis kelapa sawit Korindo.”
Franky Samperante (Yayasan Pusaka) mengatakan:
“Selama beberapa dekade terakhir, Korindo berhasil lolos dari perhatian atas pelanggaran hak tanah masyarakat adat. Korindo harus memiliki komitmen serius untuk melindungi lingkungan dan menghormati serta memulihkan hak-hak korban masyarakat adat Papua.”
Andi Muttaqien (Satya Bumi) mengatakan:
“Korindo telah menghancurkan puluhan ribu hektar hutan tropis di Papua. Perusahaan harus membayar untuk pemulihan kerusakan lingkungan yang ditimbulkan, bukan sibuk membungkam pegiat lingkungan yang berupaya melindungi hutan dan hak masyarakat adat.”
Shin Young, Advokat untuk Hukum Kepentingan Umum, APIL (Korea):
“Jika Korindo serius dalam memperbaiki kredibilitas, memegang komitmen lingkungan serta HAM, maka Korindo memang harus mencabut gugatan hukum terhadap kelompok masyarakat sipil yang selama ini bersuara menentang pelanggaran yang dilakukan perusahaan. Kemudian memulihkan habitat hutan yang telah hancur, membayar ganti rugi kepada korban masyarakat adat Papua.
***
Kontak:
Franky Samperante (Yayasan Pusaka Bentala): 0813 1728 6019
Andi Muttaqien (Satya Bumi) : 0812 1996 984
Catatan kaki:
1 FSC menyelidiki Korindo setelah Mighty Earth mengajukan keluhan Mei 2017
2 Ringkasan FSC tentang temuan soal Korindo, setelah Panel Pengaduan FSC turun mengunjungi
perkebunan kelapa sawit Korindo pada Desember 2017 FSC
3 Seperti yang dilaporkan oleh Mongabay and The Gecko Project berdasarkan versi bocoran dari
laporan lengkap Panel Pengaduan FSC
4 FSC mengumumkan pemutusan hubungan dengan Korindo. Siaran Pers FSC 16 Oktober 2021
Gambar dan B-roll tersedia disini
Mighty Earth reacts to US Steel agreement to supply General Motors with sustainable steel
U.S. Steel has announced it will supply General Motors (GM) with its advanced and sustainable steel solution called verdeX® steel. The company says the steel is manufactured with up to 75 percent fewer emissions compared to traditional blast furnace production, is made with up to 90 percent recycled content and is endlessly recyclable without degradation.
Responding to the announcement, Glenn Hurowitz, CEO at Mighty Earth said:
“With 60 percent of emissions projected to come from the materials that go into a car by 2040, scaling up clean steel is exactly what GM and other automakers should be doing. But GM and US Steel should share what the scope of this agreement is. Is this enough steel for a few Chevies on display at an auto show, or is it going to change the way they build their whole fleet?”
The announcement comes a few days after Mighty Earth launched a seven-figure advertising and organizing campaign urging GM to shift to carbon-free aluminum, steel, and other materials.
Notes for editors:
- Link to the announcement here
- Mighty Earth’s advocacy of Responsible Steel resulted in the review achieving the “fastest global transition to a near zero steel sector.”
- The new Responsible Steel standard is the only one for the industry that include upstream scope 3 emissions, i.e., the emissions for mining etc., are counted
Ends
For more information or to arrange an interview contact:
Matt Groch, Senior Director, Decarbonization
Carole Mitchell, Senior Director of Communications,
Syd Jones, Press Secretary
Palm oil and timber giant Korindo backs down in long-running case to silence civil society organizations
(Hamburg, Germany 21 Feb 2023) The plaintiff in the legal proceedings, a company belonging to the Korindo group of businesses, has agreed to end a long-running lawsuit, after a judge in Germany looked set to dismiss the case. PT Kenertec Power Systems’ lawsuit was obviously intended to silence a civil society campaign to protect rainforest, in Indonesia’s Papua province, threatened by Korindo’s extensive palm oil operations.
Background
Korindo’s operations span the globe, ranging from timber, paper, rubber, and palm oil to renewable energy. In 2016, Mighty Earth, Rainforest Rescue and several Indonesian and Korean NGOs (non-governmental organisations) were signatories to a letter highlighting Korindo’s rampant deforestation in its huge palm oil operations in Papua, Indonesia. The letters were sent to Kenertec’s major wind tower customers in Germany.
In 2017 Mighty Earth submitted a complaint to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), a global sustainable forestry certification body, regarding Korindo’s clearing of more than 30,000 hectares of Indonesian rainforests in Papua. The FSC launched an investigation.1
In 2018, Korindo instructed legal firm, LPA Singapore, to send threatening emails to at least seven organizations that signed the 2016 letter. The email stated: 'Korindo’s policy is to engage legal actions against individuals or organisations that circulate incorrect information or make factually erroneous public statements about Korindo - with the intention or effect to damage Korindo’s business interests. Korindo is consequently in the process of initiating legal actions against Mighty Earth.’
In 2019, Korindo’s PT Kenertec Power Systems German lawyers2 filed a libel lawsuit in Germany, against the Center for International Policy (CIP), a former fiscal sponsor to Mighty Earth, and the German NGO, Rettet den Regenwald (Rainforest Rescue). Kenertec’s German lawyer argued that statements, made in letters sent to wind tower customers in Germany, namely Siemens AG (Germany), Gamesa Corporation (now Siemens Gamesa) and Nordex SE (Germany), were defamatory.
In 2019 Korindo’s legal firm, threatened the FSC, which was investigating Korindo’s violations of its policies, based on Mighty Earth’s 2017 complaint. The investigation found that Korindo had destroyed more than 30,000 hectares of forest (equivalent to 42,000 football fields) in the previous five years and committed violations of Indigenous peoples’ traditional and human rights, in contravention of FSC standards.3 The investigation estimated that Korindo had ‘deprived indigenous communities in Indonesia’s Papua province of $300 million by underpaying for the timber harvested from their lands ’4
In late 2021, the FSC expelled Korindo based on its failure to cooperate with the FSC and agree on a process to address the impacts of its forestry and palm oil operations.5
Korindo agrees to settle
On 21 February 2023 Kenertec and Rainforest Rescue agreed to settle the dispute, instigated by Korindo three years ago, based on a proposal put forward by the German court. The judge declared that Kenertec could not sue CIP for statements made in the letter signed by Mighty Earth.
The SLAPP lawsuit was obviously designed to silence and intimidate the civil society groups and prevent them from repeating some statements in the letters, or be fined €250,000 in each case of violation, or face imprisonment.
What is SLAPP?
The lawsuit is an example of a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, or SLAPP suit, in which big corporations or high-profile individuals, file lawsuits designed to harass and drain substantial resources from watchdog organizations, activists, journalists, trade unions, media organizations, and those who represent the public interest.
Amanda Hurowitz, Senior Director for Southeast Asia, Mighty Earth said:
“Korindo’s attempt to silence Mighty Earth and our NGO allies was completely baseless. Finally, after three years, as a German court was preparing to dismiss the case, Korindo backed down. They agreed to settle without any damages or injunctions being awarded against Mighty Earth, CIP or Rainforest Rescue and agreed to pay most of the court’s legal costs.”
“Rogue companies that destroy the planet shouldn’t be wasting the courts’ time with cases aimed at gagging civil society groups, who are rightly pushing for a global end to deforestation for palm oil, timber, soy, beef, and other commodities, to tackle climate change and nature loss.”
Professor Roger Mann of German legal firm, Damm & Mann, acting for CIP and Rainforest Rescue, said:
“After more than three years, Korindo has accepted a settlement proposal made by the court after it was inclined to dismiss the case completely. The court had made it clear, at an early stage, that the claims against CIP and for revocation against both defendants were completely without merit.”
“Regarding the claims for injunctive relief in relation to the statement about the setting of illegal fires by Korindo, the defendants had presented so many facts and offered so much evidence that the court considered hearing witnesses in Indonesia. This did not happen because, after a change of judge, the court indicated that the plaintiff was not entitled to injunctive relief because its business was wind turbines, and it wasn’t involved in the palm oil business of Korindo.”
Franky Samperante, Yayasan Pusaka (Indonesia) said:
“For decades, Korindo has gotten away with violating indigenous peoples’ land rights without exposure. Korindo should be seriously committed to respect and recover the rights of affected Papuan Indigenous communities and protect local environment.”
Andi Muttaqien, Satya Bumi (Indonesia):
Korindo has destroyed tens of thousands of hectares of rainforest in Papua. The company should be using its resources and money to restore the damage it has caused, instead of wasting them to silence activist campaigns in protecting forests and indigenous peoples.
Shin Young, Advocates for Public Interest Law, APIL (Korea)
“If Korindo is serious about improving its credibility and environmental and human rights performance, it needs to stop its legal harassment of civil society groups who have tried to stand up to its abuses, restore the forest habitat it destroyed and pay restitution to affected Papuan Indigenous communities."
Ends
Notes to Editors:
1 FSC launches investigation into Korindo after Mighty Earth files complaint, Mighty Earth May 2017
2 Lawyers Manner & Spangenberg Partnerschaft von Rechtsanwälten mbB, An der Alster 64, 20099 Hamburg, Germany, Ref.: 10025-003 SCM
3 FSC overview of findings against Korindo, following the FSC Complaint Panel field trip to the Korindo’s palm oil plantations in December 2017 FSC
4 As reported by Mongabay and The Gecko Project based on a leaked version of the full FSC Complaint Panel report.
5 FSC announces disassociation from Korindo. FSC press release 16 October 2021
Images and broll available here
口先だけの甘い言葉：ガーナとコートジボワールにおける森林破壊は依然として高い水準にある
2022年2月、マイティー・アースは、『口先だけの甘い言葉：チョコレート業界は、カカオのサプライチェーンにおける森林破壊を終わらせるための約束を果たしていない』と題した調査報告書を発表した。同報告書では、西アフリカとその周辺におけるカカオ産業による森林破壊を止めるという、カカオバイヤーとチョコレート企業による誓約が未達成であることが焦点となった。マイティー・アースによる調査の結果、ガーナとコートジボワールの主要なカカオ生産地において、熱帯林の破壊が進行していることが判明した。
この調査から1年後、マイティー・アースは衛星データを再度確認したが、悲しいことに、熱帯林伐採の全体像は改善されていないことが判明した。2022年のコートジボワールとガーナのカカオ生産地における森林破壊は、依然として高い水準にあった。RADDアラート（「森林破壊検知のためのレーダーアラート」）と呼ばれる、ほぼリアルタイムで森林破壊状況を検知するレーダー波によるモニタリングでは、コートジボワールにおいて2019年以降で最も多い8,000ヘクタール以上の森林消失面積が記録された。ガーナでは、RADDアラートにより、2021年に消失した森林面積に匹敵する1万2,000ヘクタール以上の森林が消失していることが明らかになった。
カカオ業界が森林破壊について対策を講じることを誓約して以降、現在すでに数年が経過している。そのためこれらの森林消失の現状は、懸念されることなのだ。2017年11月の国連気候変動会議において、コートジボワールとガーナの政府は、カカオの取引業者や大手チョコレート企業（ネスレ、ハーシーズ、モンデリーズ、ユニリーバ、マースを含む）とともに、「カカオと森林イニシアティブ」（CFI）に署名した。続いて2019年初頭には詳細な行動計画が発表され、これにより、西アフリカにおけるカカオ農園の拡大による森林破壊を食い止めるとともに、劣化した生態系の再生に取り組むため、カカオのサプライチェーンに関わる企業が断固たる措置を取ることが期待されるようになった。
しかし残念ながら、企業も政府もこの時以来、何も実行していないことが証拠により示されている。コートジボワールでは、カカオ栽培地域における森林消失面積が2019年の5,500ヘクタールから2022年の8,400ヘクタールへと着実に増加している。ガーナでは、森林消失の傾向は一貫していないものの、同じように悲惨な状況である。カカオ栽培地における森林消滅面積は、2019年以降平均で1万2,000ヘクタールとなっていたが、2022年には平均1万2,350ヘクタールとなった。
過去30年間で、ガーナでは65％、コートジボワールでは90％もの森林面積が失われたと推定されるため、これはとりわけ深刻な問題である。 2018年の推定では、ガーナのカカオ生産地には湿潤熱帯林の原生林はわずか100万7000ヘクタール、コートジボワールには103万5000ヘクタールしか残っていないため、これらの損失は非常に大きなものである。この4年間で、ガーナでは4.7％、コートジボワールでは2.6％の森林面積が失われたことになる。
さらに、RADDアラートに基づく森林消失面積の予測は、密集した湿潤の熱帯林のみを含む熱帯林ベースマップのモニタリングに基づくものであるため、かなり保守的な数字だと思われる。CFIとコートジボワール政府が採用する森林モニタリングの「公式」プラットフォーム『IMAGES』は、RADDアラートよりも多くの森林をモニタリングしているが、これによれば状況はさらに危機的だ。IMAGESプラットフォームのデータによると、コートジボワールのカカオ栽培地域では2022年に5万4,000ヘクタール以上の森林消失が検出されており、2020年と2021年の消失面積を上回ったことが明らかとなっている。
森林破壊に繋がる農産物をEU市場で販売することを禁ずる新たな法律が間もなく施行されるため、西アフリカの企業や政府は、カカオ生産地域の森林保護に関するこれまでの誓約を真剣に受け止めざるを得なくなる。マイティー・アースは、CFIとその参加組織・企業らに対し、公開された森林破壊モニタリングシステムの導入、カカオ調達に関するサプライチェーン情報の公開、持続可能なカカオ栽培の支援、劣化した森林景観の再生に積極的に取り組むことを改めて要請する。
マイティー・アースのデータおよび計算の詳細については、マイティー・アースの「カカオ・アカウンタビリティ・マップ」でコートジボアールとガーナについて再度ご覧いただくか、[email protected] までご連絡ください。
Sweet Nothings: Deforestation Remains High across Ghana & Côte d’Ivoire
Update:
As of March 28th, RADD alerts have highlighted at least 3,300 hectares of forest disturbances in Ghanaian cocoa-growing regions and 2,600 hectares of disturbances in Ivorian cocoa-growing regions since January 1st, 2023.
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In February 2022, Mighty Earth published our Sweet Nothings report in which we highlighted the unfulfilled promises of cocoa buyers and chocolate companies to halt cocoa-driven deforestation in West Africa and beyond. Our investigation uncovered evidence of ongoing tropical forest destruction in the key cocoa-growing regions of both Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
One year on, we’ve taken another look at the satellite data and, sadly, the overall picture has not improved. Deforestation across Côte d'Ivoire & Ghana’s cocoa growing regions in 2022 remained stubbornly high. RADD alerts — radar alerts that highlight forest loss in near-real time — picked up over 8,000 hectares (ha) of forest disturbance in Côte d'Ivoire, the most since 2019. In Ghana, RADD alerts highlighted over 12,000 ha of disturbance, similar to the amount of forest lost in 2021.
This is concerning as it has now been several years since the cocoa industry committed to take action on deforestation. At the November 2017 UN Climate Change Conference, the governments of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana – along with cocoa traders and leading chocolate manufacturers (including Nestlé, Hershey’s, Mondelez, Unilever, and Mars) – signed the Cocoa and Forests Initiative (CFI) Framework for Action. This was followed in early 2019 by the publication of detailed action plans, raising hopes that companies across the cocoa supply chain would take decisive measures to end deforestation caused by the expansion of cocoa plantations in West Africa and work to rehabilitate degraded ecosystems.
Unfortunately, the evidence suggests that companies and governments have failed to make progress since this time. In Cote d’Ivoire, tree cover loss in cocoa growing regions has steadily increased from 5,500 ha in 2019 to 8,400 ha in 2022. In Ghana, the trend is less consistent, but just as dire. Tree cover loss in cocoa growing regions has averaged ~12,000 ha since 2019, with ~12,350 ha in 2022.
This is particularly concerning as Ghana is estimated to have lost 65% of its forest cover over the past thirty years, while Côte d’Ivoire has lost as much as 90% of its forests over a similar period. With a 2018 estimate showing just ~1,007,000 ha of primary humid tropical forest remaining in Ghanaian cocoa growing regions, and 1,035,000 ha in Côte d'Ivoire, these losses are very significant: 4.7% of remaining forests have been lost in Ghana over the past four years, and 2.6% in Cote d’Ivoire.
Source: Analysis (in Google Earth Engine) based on data from Wageningen University, in collaboration with World Resources Institute‘s Global Forest Watch program, Google, European Space Agency, University of Maryland and Deltares (2020).
Furthermore, estimates of forest loss based on RADD alerts are likely quite conservative, as they monitor a tropical forest basemap that only includes dense, humid tropical forests. IMAGES, the ‘official’ platform for forest monitoring adopted by both the CFI and Ivorian government paints an even scarier picture as the platform monitors more forest coverage than RADD: data from the IMAGES platform shows that more than 54,000 ha disturbance alerts were detected in Côte d'Ivoire’s cocoa growing regions in 2022, higher than both 2020 & 2021.
Source: Data from the IMAGES Platform's Early Warning System, licensed by Vivid Economics & co-financed by the UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme (IPP).
With new legislation soon banning the sale of agricultural products linked to deforestation on EU markets, companies and governments in West Africa now have no choice but to take seriously their previous commitments to protect forests in cocoa growing regions. Mighty Earth once again calls upon the CFI and its members to adopt a publicly available deforestation monitoring system, publish supply chain information related to cocoa sourcing, support sustainable cocoa-growing practices, and actively work to rehabilitate degraded forest landscapes.
For more information on our data and calculations, please rexplore Mighty Earth’s Cocoa Accountability Maps for Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana or reach out to [email protected].
Vice President, Programs
Vice President of Programs
Mighty Earth is accepting applications to join our team as Vice President of Programs, a critical leadership role on our “Dream Team.” In this position, you will drive the strategic direction of our campaigns for Nature and climate at one of the most effective environmental advocacy organizations in the world. You will oversee talented senior leaders of programs to protect the Amazon and other rainforests, transform the global meat industry, shift to regenerative agriculture, and decarbonize industry in ways that advance the rights of Indigenous and local communities. You will also help develop new programmatic initiatives with outsized potential to protect Earth and its inhabitants, such as work on rewilding and the finance sector.
Who we are:
Mighty Earth (www.mightyearth.org) is a global advocacy organization working to defend a living planet. Our goal is to protect half of Earth for Nature and secure a climate that allows life to flourish. We are obsessed with impact and aspire to be the most effective environmental advocacy organization in the world.
We have played a leading role in developing and deploying campaigns that have:
- Driven a 90% decline in deforestation for palm oil, rubber, and other commodities
- Banned European imports of commodities linked to deforestation
- Helped spark decarbonization in the steel and aluminum industries
- Ended financing for and shut down dangerous new coal plants in Asia
- Secured stronger rights for Indigenous and local communities affected by industrial agriculture
- Won major new investments in protecting highly biodiverse landscapes
- Shifted energy policies away from fossil fuels towards clean energy
Read more about our approach and our campaign in the following resources;
Fomenting a “Perfect Storm” to push companies to change (Mongabay).
How Pressuring Corporations Can Save the Amazon from Destruction (Yale Environment 360)
As Mighty Earth’s Vice President for Programs, your responsibilities will include:
Leadership and Management
- Managing Mighty Earth’s campaign leaders
- Working with the Senior Directors for Communications, Finance, and Development on operational, and programmatic priorities
- Working closely with the organization’s leadership (as a member of the Senior Leadership team) to build a culture that is obsessed with impact, fun, supportive, collaborative, and committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ).
Campaign Strategy
- Working with campaign leaders to develop and update multi-year strategic and tactical plans;
- Supporting campaign leaders to develop budgets that align with programmatic and organizational priorities and responsibilities;
- Guiding Mighty Earth’s campaigns in major decisions, planning, communication, and advocacy, and bringing in the CEO and Deputy Director as needed;
- Working with the Senior Director of Communications, to coordinate Mighty Earth’s digital campaigning, communications, and research to advance programmatic and organizational strategy and goals;
Additional responsibilities include:
- Serving as a representative and spokesperson for Mighty Earth in meetings with strategic partners, corporate targets, and/or philanthropic supporters as needed;
- Supporting organizational, strategic, and project planning;
- Supporting the CEO in Board-level planning;
- Supporting the CEO and playing a role in fundraising and development as needed.
Who you are:
Required qualifications:
- You have a minimum of 8 years of experience, including experience working in advocacy or social change
- You have experience recruiting, training, and managing senior staff.
- You have experience developing and deploying detailed strategic and tactical plans.
- You are deeply committed to protecting the environment and advancing a more just society
- You are a strong writer and verbal communicator and can distill complicated information into fluent and accessible prose.
- You have a commitment to and experience working with people from a variety of backgrounds.
- You are excited about working in an entrepreneurial, dynamic environment where changes in politics, economics, or other factors requires
- You are comfortable working with various internal and external stakeholders and can network and work in coalitions across diverse constituencies. You are comfortable working with people from different cultures and backgrounds.
- English fluency is required.
Preferred qualifications:
- Additional language skills, including Portuguese, Spanish, French, German or Chinese a plus, but not essential.
- You have experience in markets campaigning or influencing company executives.
- Expertise in deforestation, agriculture, or industry decarbonization a plus, but not required. We are open to candidates with experience in other issue areas such as human rights, politics, democracy, or racial justice.
- Familiarity with and connections in Latin America, Africa, Asia, or Europe is a plus, but not required.
More about our team: Mighty Earth is made up of people from various backgrounds including people with background in non-profit organizations, election campaigns, government, the private sector, and legislative offices, at a range of experience levels. We pride ourselves on being a welcoming place for people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, parents, empty-nesters, and more.
Approach and Culture: Consistent with our obsession with impact, Mighty Earth is results-focused, entrepreneurial, collaborative, and nimble – and we seek candidates who are excited to work in that culture. While remaining true to our public interest mission and commitment to movement-building, we’ve sought to apply the best of business to our organization. A resource that has informed our approach to culture is the book No Rules Rules and the famous Netflix culture deck.
Details: This is a full-time position with a preference for candidates based in Washington, DC. We are open to candidates based in other U.S. locations, with a preference for eastern time zone locations. The position involves international travel. You will report to our CEO and work closely with our Deputy Director.
To apply: Please submit your application as soon as possible. Please include a thoughtful cover letter which speaks to our mission, demonstrates your writing abilities, and let us know where you heard about the job. The position will remain posted until it is filled. If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please contact Jeanne-Marie Leroux at [email protected]. Applications should be submitted through our application link and not sent to this email.
Interview process: Our interview process involves a phone interview, two video interviews, a candidate exercise, and reference calls for candidates advancing in our process.
Compensation and benefits: The hiring salary range for this position is $125K - $160K, depending on experience. We have a generous benefits package including group health insurance, dental benefits, unlimited vacation time, paid holidays, and a 401(k) plan.
Mighty Earth is an equal opportunity employer; we strictly prohibit discrimination against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or expression and any other characteristic protected by law. Women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community are strongly encouraged to apply.
Director, Auto Decarbonization Campaign
Auto Decarbonization Campaign Director
Mighty Earth, a global environmental campaign organization, is accepting applications for a US-based Auto Decarbonization Director. The Campaign Director will work with the Senior Director of the Decarbonization Campaign to establish systems and strategies to engage U.S.-based auto companies and develop Mighty Earth’s college organizing campaign. The Campaign Director will be responsible for managing, implementing, and executing the field program objectives across the U.S. Some travel is required.
Our campaign aims to decarbonize and end human rights abuses in the auto supply chain. The automotive industry is critical to achieving net-zero global emissions by 2050. As auto producers move to electric vehicles, by 2040 materials used for production will account for 60 percent of life-cycle emissions. This means in addition to going electric the auto industry must shift material supply chains to include green aluminum and steel, deforestation-free and sustainable leather, rubber, and other materials to be truly carbon neutral.
If you are passionate about Nature and climate change and want to transform the automotive industry to create a decarbonized global supply chain free of human rights abuses, please apply.
Who we are: Mighty Earth – Never Impossible
Mighty Earth is a global advocacy organization working to defend a living planet. We are obsessed with impact: Our goal is to protect half of Earth for Nature and secure a climate that allows life to flourish. We aspire to be the most effective environmental organization in the world.
Through our proven “perfect storm” model of driving change, we have played a leading role in persuading the world’s largest food and agriculture companies to act against deforestation land-grabbing, and human rights abuse, and driven the adoption of multi-billion-dollar shifts to clean energy. We work to support Indigenous communities, communities of color, and low-income communities through these efforts.
Read more about our approach and our campaign in the following resources;
Fomenting a “Perfect Storm” to push companies to change (Mongabay).
How Pressuring Corporations Can Save the Amazon from Destruction (Yale Environment 360)
The zero-carbon car: Abating material emissions is next on the agenda (McKinsey)
Background on the position:
The automotive industry is responsible for 9% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually and is a major consumer of materials that contribute the most to global emissions. High-carbon materials in vehicles like steel and aluminum account for 8% and 2% of global annual emissions respectively. The auto sector consumes 12% of global steel and 18% of global aluminum annually. As a major emitter of GHGs and consumer of high-carbon materials, decarbonizing the automotive industry supply chain is critical to the transition to a greener, cleaner, and more sustainable future.
As the national Automotive Decarbonization Campaign Director, you will build and lead our auto campaign organizing and coordination. Your work will build campaigns that persuade corporations, financial institutions, and government officials to implement strong environmental and human rights policies.
Responsibilities:
- Play a critical role in Mighty Earth’s campaign to transform the auto industry to decarbonize and end human rights abuses in their material supply chains with a focus on steel and aluminum.
- Oversee organizing efforts, including the college organizing program and managing the Auto Campaign Organizing Director and Michigan Organizing Director.
- Conduct industry research and develop campaign materials, work plans and accountability systems for the implementation of organizing plans.
- Develop and implement effective plans and strategies to achieve campaign goals, integrating communications, online communication, and field and grassroots activities into a highly strategic campaign.
- Engage with senior executives and government officials.
- Build relationships with civil society organizations and other key constituencies in Michigan and other areas in the US.
- Recruit volunteers and develop leaders to build the campaign across the US.
- Organize campaign actions and press events.
- Generate media attention through report releases, events, press conferences in key media markets, through a strategic media plan and building relationships with journalists.
- Work on additional Mighty Earth campaigns as needed.
Who you are:
Required qualifications:
- You have a minimum of 7 years of experience, with a background in issue advocacy campaigning or grassroots organizing.
- You are passionate about protecting the environment and advancing a more just society.
- You have experience developing and implementing campaign strategy and detailed plans, communicating with corporate executives and/or elected officials, and figuring out how to move decision-makers.
- You are comfortable operating in highly dynamic environments where changes in politics, economics, and other external events regularly create opportunities and challenges on a regular basis
- You are comfortable working with various internal and external stakeholders and can network and build coalitions across diverse constituencies.
- You are a strong writer and can take complex information to distill into understandable products such as press releases, reports, and letters.
- You have an international orientation. You have experience with and are committed to working with people from a variety of backgrounds, including different ethnic, racial, sexual, and religious communities.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Expertise in the automotive, heavy industry decarbonization or environmental issues is a plus, but not required.
Details: This is a full-time position and candidates can be based in the US, preferably the DC region. The position involves some domestic travel. You will report to our Senior Director for the Decarbonization Campaign and will work with other team members around the world.
More about our team: Mighty Earth is made up of people from various backgrounds including people with a background in non-profit organizations, election campaigns, government, the private sector, and legislative offices, at a range of experience levels. We pride ourselves on being a welcoming place for people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, parents, empty-nesters, and more.
Approach and Culture: Consistent with our obsession with impact, Mighty Earth is results-focused, entrepreneurial, collaborative, and nimble – and we seek candidates who are excited to work in that culture. While remaining true to our public interest mission and commitment to movement-building, we’ve sought to apply the best of business to our organization. A resource that has informed our approach to culture is the book No Rules Rules and the famous Netflix culture deck.
Application Deadline: Please submit your application as soon as possible. Please click on the apply button below and include a thoughtful cover letter which speaks to our mission and demonstrates your writing abilities and also let us know where you heard about the job. The position will remain posted until it is filled.
If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please contact Jeanne Marie Leroux at [email protected].
Compensation: This is a full-time role. The annual pay range is $90K to $110.
Mighty Earth is an equal opportunity employer; we strictly prohibit discrimination against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or expression and any other characteristic protected by law. Women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community are strongly encouraged to apply.
Press Secretary
Mighty Earth is a global advocacy organization working to defend a living planet. We are obsessed with impact: Our goal is to protect half of Earth for Nature and secure a climate that allows life to flourish. We aspire to be the most effective environmental organization in the world.
Through our proven “perfect storm” model of driving change, we have played a leading role in persuading the world’s largest food and agriculture companies to act against deforestation land-grabbing, human rights abuse, and driven the adoption of multi-billion-dollar shifts to clean energy.
Read more about our approach and our campaign in the following resources;
Fomenting a “Perfect Storm” to push companies to change (Mongabay).
How Pressuring Corporations Can Save the Amazon from Destruction (Yale Environment 360)
About the Position
Outstanding strategic communications have been and will continue to be at the center of Mighty Earth’s success and identity. We are a communications-forward organization, and we take pride in that. While the role is broader than just media relations, that has always been an area where we have excelled, and we are looking to build on and extend that strength while cultivating a comprehensive approach to communications.
Your responsibilities will include:
- Media Relations: Cultivating and managing relationships with domestic and international reporters. We have built a global network of media connections and attention by driving domestic and international media coverage in the areas we work.
- Social Media: Developing and implementing social media content, including digital toolkits and short explainer videos, to support our campaigns, promote Mighty Earth as a thought leader, and communicate with key stakeholder groups. You will also coordinate with the Digital Team to support content for the website.
- Writing & Editing: Writing and editing a variety of communications materials, both internal and external, including press releases, reporter pitches, blog posts, talking points and campaign media plans. You will work with Campaign Directors to guide the design and production of collateral materials and multimedia assets, including reports, videos, infographics, leave-behinds and live event props and related materials.
- Communications Planning & Message Development: Support the development of comprehensive and strategic campaign communications plans and messaging, as well as creative communications tactics around campaign launches, report releases, and campaign branding/positioning. You will play a key role in identifying and responding to media opportunities and preparing the organization to react quickly to global events. You will also assist Campaign Directors with planning and executing live events as appropriate, such as grassroots actions and social media events.
- Organization Building: Developing and implementing internal communications and marketing plans to help grow the organization. You will assist in the implementation of new systems and standards for communication programs. You will also engage in media and marketing efforts to help build the firm’s brand and reach.
- Organizational Communications. Participate in the writing of fundraising and organizational materials and assist program teams with content development and organizational consistency.
Who You Are:
Required qualifications:
- You have 3+ years of experience in media relations and communications strategy, with a preference for communications experience at a public affairs/PR agency or nonprofit.
- You have excitement for cultivating and managing relationships with reporters in the U.S. and internationally.
- You have experience with social media and how to use it to build name recognition and organizational interest.
- You have a background or interest in the U.S. and global environmental, climate, energy issues, and social justice issues.
- You have an ability to get up to speed quickly on complex issues and manage multiple simultaneous projects with many moving pieces. You have a facility for synthesizing complex topics into engaging and creative communications.
- You have grit and resilience. You drive projects to completion and accomplish your goals but are also able to pivot easily to address an emergent issue or seize an opportunity.
- You have excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- You can work well in a team setting; you know how to collaborate and also when to work independently. You are a good listener who connects with people; you know how to “manage up” across working and management styles, you have the humility to communicate effectively cross-culturally.
- You pay strong attention to detail.
Preferred qualifications:
- You have experience working on environmental issues and campaigns.
- You speak Spanish, Portuguese, French, Chinese or another language in addition to English.
- You have an international orientation and ideally, have experience working with international campaign teams and colleagues.
- You have existing relationships with U.S. and international media
- You have experience with brand development, internal communications, and the production of marketing materials.
- You have a bachelor’s degree in a related field.
More about our team: Mighty Earth is made up of people from various backgrounds including people with backgrounds in non-profit organizations, election campaigns, government, the private sector, and legislative offices, at a range of experience levels. We pride ourselves on being a welcoming place for people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, parents, empty-nesters, and more.
Approach and Culture:
Consistent with our obsession with impact, Mighty Earth is results-focused, entrepreneurial, collaborative, and nimble – and we seek candidates who are excited to work in that culture. While remaining true to our public interest mission and commitment to movement-building, we’ve sought to apply the best of business to our organization. A resource that has informed our approach to culture is the book No Rules Rules and the famous Netflix culture deck.
Details:
This is a full-time position. A candidate based in Washington, DC is preferred, other locations will be considered. You will report to our Senior Director of Communications.
Application Deadline:
Please submit your application as soon as possible. Please include a thoughtful cover letter which speaks to our mission and demonstrates your writing abilities and also let us know where you heard about the job.
Compensation and benefits: This is a full-time role. The annual pay range is $76-$95,000 with exact pay depending on experience. If you require reasonable accommodations in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please contact [email protected].
Mighty Earth is an equal opportunity employer; we strictly prohibit discrimination against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or expression and any other characteristic protected by law. Women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community are strongly encouraged to apply.
Associate, Heavy Industry Decarbonization Campaign
Decarbonization Campaign Associate
Mighty Earth, a global environmental campaign organization, is accepting applications for a US-based Decarbonization Campaign. The Associate works to support the Senior Director of Decarbonization and the Auto Campaign Director in implementing campaign strategies and digital campaigns to support the initiatives of Mighty Earth’s organizing campaigns in targeted states and regions in the United States. The Associate will work with the Senior Director of the Decarbonization Campaign to establish systems and strategies to engage U.S.-based auto companies and develop Mighty Earth’s college organizing campaign.
Our campaign aims to decarbonize and end human rights abuses in the auto supply chain. The automotive industry is critical to achieving net-zero global emissions by 2050. As auto producers move to electric vehicles, by 2040, materials used for production will account for 60 percent of life-cycle emissions. This means in addition to going electric, the auto industry must shift material supply chains to include green aluminum and steel, deforestation-free and sustainable leather, rubber, and other materials to be truly carbon neutral.
If you are passionate about Nature and climate change and want to transform the automotive industry to create a decarbonized global supply chain free of human rights abuses, please apply.
Who we are: Mighty Earth – Never Impossible
Mighty Earth is a global advocacy organization working to defend a living planet. We are obsessed with impact: Our goal is to protect half of Earth for Nature and secure a climate that allows life to flourish. We aspire to be the most effective environmental organization in the world.
Through our proven “perfect storm” model of driving change, we have played a leading role in persuading the world’s largest food and agriculture companies to act against deforestation land-grabbing, and human rights abuse, and driven the adoption of multi-billion-dollar shifts to clean energy. We work to support Indigenous communities, communities of color, and low-income communities through these efforts.
Read more about our approach and our campaign in the following resources;
Fomenting a “Perfect Storm” to push companies to change (Mongabay).
How Pressuring Corporations Can Save the Amazon from Destruction (Yale Environment 360)
The zero-carbon car: Abating material emissions is next on the agenda (McKinsey)
Background on the position:
The automotive industry is responsible for 9% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually and is a major consumer of materials that contribute the most to global emissions. High-carbon materials in vehicles like steel and aluminum account for 8% and 2% of global annual emissions, respectively. The auto sector consumes 12% of global steel and 18% of global aluminum annually. As a major emitter of GHGs and consumer of high-carbon materials, decarbonizing the automotive industry supply chain is critical to the transition to a greener, cleaner, and more sustainable future.
As the decarbonization associate, you will work with the Senior Director for the Decarbonization Campaign and other campaign staff to expand campaign capacity and support campaign activities. Your work will build campaigns that persuade corporations, financial institutions, and government officials to implement strong environmental and human rights policies.
Responsibilities:
- Provide support to the Senior Director for the Decarbonization Campaign and assist with organizing and scheduling appointments and coalition meetings.
- Support the Decarbonization Campaign Team, assisting with campaign initiatives, g Mighty Earth’s college organizing program, and campaign activities.
- Prepare organizing materials, issue updates, action alerts, and media materials needed to implement issue campaigns in coordination with Senior Director and the decarb organizing team.
- Work with Senior Director and campaign team to maintain a calendar and track campaign events, think tank briefings, organizational meetings and events, industry events, congressional hearings, and other outside events of interest to the decarbonization team
- Design and post social media ads and graphics, including memes, short videos, and infographics.
- Conduct directed research and summarize findings.
- Provide support for protests, events, and media opportunities including recruiting allies, and speakers, coordinating preparations of signs/banners, major mailings, logistics, and more.
- Maintain a national database of activists, organizations, and key contacts.
Who you are:
Required qualifications:
- You have a college degree
- You have some organizing training (Green Corps, Center for Third World Organizing, Midwest Academy, etc.).
- You have at least two years of organizing, strategic advocacy, and/or electoral experience at the state, national or international level.
- You have some experience with social media, video production, online organizing, or communications experience.
- You are passionate about protecting the environment and advancing a more just society.
- You are comfortable operating in highly dynamic environments where changes in politics, economics, and other external events regularly create opportunities and challenges on a regular basis.
- You are a strong writer and can take complex information to distill it into understandable products such as press releases, reports, and letters.
- You have an international orientation. You have experience with and are committed to working with people from various backgrounds, including different ethnic, racial, sexual, and religious communities.
Skills: Excellent organizational, interpersonal, and communication skills. Excellent editing and copyediting skills, including excellent facility with English grammar and syntax. Highly proficient in Microsoft Word and Excel. Design skills are a plus. Familiar with databases; familiar with basic office equipment.
Details: This is a full-time position, and candidates should be based in the US, preferably in the DC region. The position involves some domestic travel. You will report to our Senior Director for the Decarbonization Campaign and will work with other team members around the world.
More about our team: Mighty Earth is made up of people from various backgrounds including people with a background in non-profit organizations, election campaigns, government, the private sector, and legislative offices, at a range of experience levels. We pride ourselves on being a welcoming place for people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, parents, empty-nesters, and more.
Approach and Culture:
Consistent with our obsession with impact, Mighty Earth is results-focused, entrepreneurial, collaborative, and nimble – and we seek candidates who are excited to work in that culture. While remaining true to our public interest mission and commitment to movement-building, we’ve sought to apply the best of business to our organization. A resource that has informed our approach to culture is the book No Rules Rules and the famous Netflix culture deck.
Application Deadline: Please submit your application as soon as possible. Please click on the apply button below and include a thoughtful cover letter that speaks to our mission and demonstrates your writing abilities also, let us know where you heard about the job. The position will remain posted until it is filled.
Compensation: This is a full-time role. The annual pay range is $50K to $65. If you require a reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please contact Matthew Groch at [email protected](dot)org.
Mighty Earth is an equal opportunity employer; we strictly prohibit discrimination against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or expression, and any other characteristic protected by law. Women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community are strongly encouraged to apply.
Sustainability initiatives will fail until companies pay more for cocoa warns new report co-published by Mighty Earth
Sustainability initiatives will fail until companies pay more for cocoa warns new report co-published by Mighty Earth
Endemic sustainability issues within global cocoa supply chains, including child labour and deforestation, will continue unless efforts are coupled with the payment of a higher farmgate price for cocoa, according to the 2022 Cocoa Barometer.
The report finds that a combination of public policies, private sector purchasing practices, and agricultural solutions are needed.
The Barometer – developed by the VOICE Network of civil society organizations, of which Mighty Earth is a member – shows that there remains a wide range of problems facing families in cocoa communities, including child labour; gender inequality; (infant) malnutrition; lack of access to education; insufficient health care facilities and sanitation; and a variety of labour rights violations for smallholders, workers, and tenants. Environmental issues such as deforestation and climate change remain a growing concern.
Without a significant increase in earnings, cocoa farmers will be burdened with the responsibility for addressing this range of issues without the means or incentives to do so. As such, environmental and social harms such as deforestation and child labour are likely to continue in the world’s major cocoa producing countries Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
Dr Julian Oram, Senior Director at Mighty Earth, said:
“Commodity traders and chocolate companies talk a good talk about wanting to protect forests and tackle social problems such as child labour that continue to plague the cocoa industry. But ultimately, they need to put their money where their mouth is by paying farmers more so they can earn a living income for growing cocoa sustainably”.
Top-down national and international government strategies aimed at increasing cocoa production to address poverty tend to support the chocolate industry while failing to address these issues. Additionally, the cost-of-living crisis is putting further pressure on farmers in West Africa.
Yao Kouame Martia, of the cocoa cooperative ECAM, in the south-west of Côte d’Ivoire, said:
“In the past, after selling my cocoa beans, I used to plan my expenses and charges for my household, but this is becoming very difficult now. Prices of products are far beyond my provisions. I have children to care about and I‘m struggling to pay their school fees”.
Other Measures Ineffective in Isolation
New data and models launched with this Barometer confirm that development measures aimed at increasing productivity and diversification will be ultimately ineffective without real efforts to close the living income gap through higher farmgate prices. Likewise, development programmes alone are incapable of reducing deforestation, the use of hazardous pesticides or entrenching the long-term adoption of good agricultural practices.
Despite this evidence, most cocoa-purchasing companies continue to operate business as usual, supporting development programmes while refusing to directly address their own purchasing practices – including pricing.
Hayford Duodu, a cocoa farmer in Ghana, said:
“The one thing that affects us farmers is the pricing of cocoa beans. In fact, pricing is a disincentive to cocoa farmers”.
According to the VOICE Network, raising productivity or increasing farm size will never work in isolation to address the myriad of problems in the global cocoa supply chain.
Antonie Foundation, Director of the VOICE network said:
“Paying a higher price is inevitable if the living income gap is to be closed. Interventions such as the Ivorian-Ghanaian Living Income Differential are necessary first steps, but companies need to go far beyond that to ensure the farmgate price goes up.”
The Barometer suggests that colonial-era dynamics in cocoa supply chains, which saw vast wealth extracted from cocoa producing regions, continue to influence corporate and political attitudes to the problem, with the wealth generated in consuming countries through cocoa, still dwarfing investments in development programmes. To address this imbalance, autonomous farmer organizations such as cooperatives need to be strengthened and supported by national and local government initiatives in producing countries.
Action Needed on Three Fronts
The Barometer concludes that, in order for living income to become a reality for cocoa farmers, action is needed on three separate fronts: good governance policies by public bodies; good purchasing practices by the private sector; and good agricultural practices by farmers.
For the past two decades, however, almost all of the cocoa sector efforts have been focused on farmers themselves, sidestepping the necessary changes in government policy and purchasing practices needed to tackle sustainability issues.
In this context, recent efforts by the EU to establish ‘due diligence’ directives aimed at curbing environmental and social harms in global supply chains, including cocoa, are a welcome first step towards creating a more transparent supply chain. This is essential for keeping companies accountable for their purchasing practices. Ultimately even these positive policy developments will come to nothing if companies do not take action soon: they need to pay a higher price.
To read the full Barometer, or see the full list of recommendations for governments, corporations and farmers, see: https://cocoabarometer.org/en/
ABOUT THE COCOA BAROMETER
The Cocoa Barometer is published biennially by a global consortium of civil society actors: ABVV/Horval, Action against Child Exploitation (ACE), Be Slavery Free, EcoCare, European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT), Fair World Project, Fern, Freedom United, Green America, IDEF, Inades Formation, INKOTA-netzwerk, Global Labor Justice/International Labor Rights Forum, Mighty Earth, Oxfam America, Oxfam Belgium, Oxfam Ghana, Oxfam Novib, Public Eye, Rikolto, Roscidet, SEND Ghana, Solidaridad, Südwind Institut, Tropenbos International, Tropenbos Ghana, WWF France.
For free to publish photos and infographics from the report, please use this link.
Mighty Earth welcomes landmark agreement on new European law to ban deforestation
Mighty Earth welcomes landmark agreement on new European law to ban deforestation
It follows years of intense lobbying of policymakers by a coalition of civil society groups to strengthen the proposed legislation
EU policy makers agreed a landmark new zero-deforestation law that will ban agricultural goods linked to deforestation and forest degradation from being sold in EU markets. The EU is the world’s second largest importer of agricultural products, after China. The deal was struck as government leaders begin to gather for the start of the crucial UN Biodiversity Conference COP15 meetings in Montreal in Canada.
Reacting to the EU Deforestation Regulation agreement, Mighty Earth CEO Glenn Hurowitz said:
“This legislation is a gamechanger for the world's forests. For the first time, European governments are telling companies selling agricultural goods: ‘If you or your suppliers destroy forests, you can’t sell your products here’.” With this law, Europe is putting real action for wildlife on the table, too, in advance of the Montreal Biodiversity COP.”
“Big ag companies will finally have to stop talking about how much they love forests, and start doing something for forests.”
“With more than 125 million hectares of previously deforested land across the tropics where agriculture can be expanded without threatening native ecosystems, compliance should not be a challenge for responsible actors.”
“There are some dangerous gaps in this new EU anti-deforestation legislation, including its failure to immediately protect carbon-rich peatlands and biodiverse savannas and to ensure full protection for Indigenous people. If EU policymakers don’t want the legislation to create a perverse incentive for big ag companies to just drive their bulldozers from the Amazon rainforest to the Cerrado savanna, they’re going to have to act quickly to close these loopholes.”
“To fully safeguard the future of our forests, we also need the rest of the world to act. If the United States, UK, China, and Japan follow Europe, then nearly 75% of the world's imported deforestation could be eliminated within a few years.”
The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) targets cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy, and wood (including charcoal & printed paper); preventing any goods derived from these commodities from being sold in the EU if they contributed to deforestation after December 31, 2020.
Mighty Earth and its CSO allies in the 200+ strong Together4Forests coalition had also been pushing hard to ensure that agricultural products imported into the EU are produced in accordance with international human rights standards, including with regards to the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). FPIC is an internationally recognised tool to ensure that any development in areas occupied by people with customary land rights cannot take place without those peoples’ explicit and prior consent. During the final negotiations, references to FPIC were added to the law, as were risk mitigation provisions relating to the consultation of Indigenous people regarding claims to their territories.
The law also allows third parties affected by companies responsible for deforestation to make claims for access to justice in the EU; and creates penalties for breaches of the law including heavy fines, confiscation of products, 'shame listing’ violators, and temporary bans on companies selling in the EU.
Despite its ground-breaking nature, though, Mighty Earth is concerned about several weaknesses within the law. The provisions on human rights do not reference international standards, relying instead on national laws. Additionally, key commodities with deforestation impacts – including maize, cashew, and meats such as pork and chicken – are not covered by the regulation as it stands.
Other threatened ecosystems such as grasslands, wetlands, and peatlands are also not protected. Mighty Earth is also concerned that the law will not come into force until July 2024 and is disappointed that EU policymakers neglected to put due diligence obligations on banks and investors that finance large commodity producers and buyers.
Mighty Earth launches new interactive map to track cocoa-driven deforestation in Ghana
Mighty Earth launches new interactive map to track cocoa-driven deforestation in Ghana
Forest loss in the West African country remains high despite government and industry pledges to reduce it
Link to map here
The launch of Mighty Earth’s new Cocoa Accountability Map for Ghana comes as the organisation reveals forest loss in the country remains stubbornly high, despite pledges by the Ghanian government and the chocolate industry to reduce cocoa-driven carbon emissions and forest loss.
Latest figures show 10,550 hectares of deforestation this year within cocoa-growing regions, with 8,188 hectares of this clearance occurring within forest reserves. It is likely that much of this clearance has been for cocoa plot expansion.
Mighty Earth has been working with RADD (Radar for Detecting Deforestation) forest-alert data from 2019 onwards to identify areas of recent land clearance across Ghana, which has lost more than 2.5 million hectares (33.7%) of its forest since the early 1990s.1 The open-source map for the Ghanaian cocoa industry consolidates data layers to provide greater transparency around deforestation linked to cocoa industry supply chains. The initiative provides visibility to cocoa cooperatives, with data released by Whittaker, Barry Callebaut, Olam, Blommer, Ecom, Ferrero, Hershey, Mars, Nestle, and Tony’s Chocolonely.2
Dr Julian Oram, Senior Director for Africa at Mighty Earth said:
“It is possible to prevent cocoa from deforested areas ending up in chocolate products, but two things need to happen. Firstly, small scale farmers, which are the bedrock of the industry, need to be properly remunerated, creating a disincentive to farm in forest reserves, or protected areas. Secondly, we need effective monitoring, which is where our Ghana Cocoa Accountability Map comes in. Our aim is for farmers, cocoa companies, NGOs, and governmental organizations to work together to end deforestation in supply chains and meet commitments for full traceability from farm gate to chocolate product.”
The new interactive map highlights deforestation hotspots, including those within protected areas and forest reserves, and shows their proximity to Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) 3 supplying major cocoa traders and chocolate companies.
Sam Mawutor, Senior Advisor, Ghana at Mighty Earth said:
“The cocoa beans' journey from farm to the first point of purchase is still the hardest to track and this is where beans from deforested areas can be mixed with those grown on legally cultivated land. The grim reality is that 30 – 40% of cocoa is still untraceable. Some chocolate companies are sitting on that information. Our map can be used to raise deforestation alerts and to hold big business accountable for bad practices. Locally we’re promoting the use of agroforestry approaches, which give value to standing trees and help diversify farmer livelihoods.”
Training session with local farmers in Accra Tuesday 6 December
Mighty Earth is training local cocoa farmer cooperatives and Ghana CSO Cocoa Platform members to use the map collaboratively to gain further insight into traceability at local level, beyond the LBC locations published by corporations.4
Evelyn Aziamati, a cocoa farmer from Adjoobo Okrase in Ghana’s Eastern Region, said:
“Protecting our livelihoods means addressing deforestation and being aware of what is happening in our local area. Tracking where the threats are can help us to raise the alarm before one hectare of deforestation becomes ten. Keeping our farms going and being able to provide for our families, means growing cocoa sustainably and using standing forests to support our work.”
Mighty Earth welcomes landmark agreement on new European law to ban deforestation
Mighty Earth welcomes landmark agreement on new European law to ban deforestation
It follows years of intense lobbying of policymakers by a coalition of civil society groups to strengthen the proposed legislation
EU policy makers agreed a landmark new zero-deforestation law that will ban agricultural goods linked to deforestation and forest degradation from being sold in EU markets. The EU is the world’s second largest importer of agricultural products, after China. The deal was struck as government leaders begin to gather for the start of the crucial UN Biodiversity Conference COP15 meetings in Montreal in Canada.
Reacting to the EU Deforestation Regulation agreement, Mighty Earth CEO Glenn Hurowitz said:
“This legislation is a gamechanger for the world's forests. For the first time, European governments are telling companies selling agricultural goods: ‘If you or your suppliers destroy forests, you can’t sell your products here’.” With this law, Europe is putting real action for wildlife on the table, too, in advance of the Montreal Biodiversity COP.”
“Big ag companies will finally have to stop talking about how much they love forests, and start doing something for forests.”
“With more than 125 million hectares of previously deforested land across the tropics where agriculture can be expanded without threatening native ecosystems, compliance should not be a challenge for responsible actors.”
“There are some dangerous gaps in this new EU anti-deforestation legislation, including its failure to immediately protect carbon-rich peatlands and biodiverse savannas and to ensure full protection for Indigenous people. If EU policymakers don’t want the legislation to create a perverse incentive for big ag companies to just drive their bulldozers from the Amazon rainforest to the Cerrado savanna, they’re going to have to act quickly to close these loopholes.”
“To fully safeguard the future of our forests, we also need the rest of the world to act. If the United States, UK, China, and Japan follow Europe, then nearly 75% of the world's imported deforestation could be eliminated within a few years.”
The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) targets cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy, and wood (including charcoal & printed paper); preventing any goods derived from these commodities from being sold in the EU if they contributed to deforestation after December 31, 2020.
Mighty Earth and its CSO allies in the 200+ strong Together4Forests coalition had also been pushing hard to ensure that agricultural products imported into the EU are produced in accordance with international human rights standards, including with regards to the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). FPIC is an internationally recognised tool to ensure that any development in areas occupied by people with customary land rights cannot take place without those peoples’ explicit and prior consent. During the final negotiations, references to FPIC were added to the law, as were risk mitigation provisions relating to the consultation of Indigenous people regarding claims to their territories.
The law also allows third parties affected by companies responsible for deforestation to make claims for access to justice in the EU; and creates penalties for breaches of the law including heavy fines, confiscation of products, 'shame listing’ violators, and temporary bans on companies selling in the EU.
Despite its ground-breaking nature, though, Mighty Earth is concerned about several weaknesses within the law. The provisions on human rights do not reference international standards, relying instead on national laws. Additionally, key commodities with deforestation impacts – including maize, cashew, and meats such as pork and chicken – are not covered by the regulation as it stands.
Other threatened ecosystems such as grasslands, wetlands, and peatlands are also not protected. Mighty Earth is also concerned that the law will not come into force until July 2024 and is disappointed that EU policymakers neglected to put due diligence obligations on banks and investors that finance large commodity producers and buyers.