80% of cattle sector heavyweights ignoring Brazil deforestation links

Major companies and financial institutions are failing to set and implement policies to tackle deforestation linked to cattle supply chains in Brazil.

Texto também disponível em português.

As the biggest agricultural driver of deforestation globally, cattle is the single most influential commodity to move the needle on global deforestation and linked greenhouse gas emissions. 

Brazil is responsible for nearly 60% of global pasture-driven deforestation, with cattle ranching contributing significantly to environmental degradation and greenhouse gas emissions. Over the past 40 years, the country has lost an area of vegetation comparable to the combined size of France, Italy and the United Kingdom, while pasture areas have grown by nearly 80%.

Addressing deforestation in this sector is crucial to achieving global climate goals. Alongside governments across the world, Brazil has committed to halting and reversing global forest loss and land degradation by 2030. 

However, the new Floresta 250 – Cattle report, published today, highlights that the private sector will need to step up much more with policies, implementation and disclosure to reach these goals.

The report assesses the performance of the 175 companies and 75 financial institutions with the greatest influence on Brazilian deforestation driven by cattle supply chains. It assesses these organisations on the strength and implementation of their commitments on deforestation, ecosystem conversion and associated human rights abuses.

Key findings

Commitments are falling short

• Eight in 10 (83%) of the assessed companies are yet to publish deforestation commitments for at least one of the cattle commodities relevant to them (they were assessed based on links to beef and leather).

• Similarly, eight in 10 (80%) of the financial institutions assessed have not published a deforestation policy for cattle products. This includes Vanguard, BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase, the three financial institutions providing the most finance to the assessed companies.

Implementation remains limited

Commitments must be supplemented with disclosure on implementation, but company action on this front is weaker yet. Even among companies and financial institutions that have published deforestation commitments, not enough are following up by publishing evidence of implementation. 

• Of the companies assessed, 91% have not publicly disclosed any volumes of leather as free from deforestation or ecosystem conversion, and 88% have not done so for beef.

• Even among companies with commitments, many did not require suppliers to be aligned or committed to deforestation and/or ecosystem conversion-free standards across their operations. Only 24% required this from their suppliers for beef, and 31% for leather.

• Among the financial institutions with deforestation policies, the implementation rate is also low. Only 8% of the financial institutions with a public deforestation policy also had a process in place to engage with clients/holdings to bring them into compliance with deforestation and/or ecosystem conversion-free standards.

• Only 6% of financial institutions required clients/holdings to have a traceability mechanism in place. Just half of this group (3%), required their clients/holdings to also monitor for compliance against deforestation and/or ecosystem conversion-free standards, in addition to having a traceability system in place.

Human rights issues are overlooked

Any effective approach to tackling deforestation in company supply chains and financial portfolios must address human rights. Four human rights areas are critical for an effective approach on deforestation and ecosystem conversion: (i) respective customary rights to land, resources and territory; (ii) securing Free, Prior and Informed Consent; (iii) following a zero-tolerance approach to violence and threats against forest, land and human rights defenders; and (iv) respecting labour rights. The Floresta 250 – Cattle findings show little progress on this front.

• Only three of the 175 companies (Nestle, General Motors and Colgate-Palmolive) have publicly committed to addressing the most critical human rights issues in commodity supply chains.

• None of the financial institutions assessed had publicly available policies covering these rights when looking at cattle products.

Recommendations for action

As the world prepares for COP30 in 2025 in Belém, the Floresta 250 – Cattle report calls for urgent action from companies and financial institutions. By COP30, as an absolute minimum:

• Companies should have published comprehensive deforestation commitments for all high-risk commodities to which they are exposed and the most critical human rights issues, with ambitious target dates for achieving these goals. They should also publicly report on progress and disclose how they plan to implement these commitments.

• Financial institutions must understand, identify and publicly acknowledge the risks posed by deforestation, ecosystem conversion and associated human rights abuses to their organisation. This includes conducting a risk assessment of their portfolios and categorising clients/holdings by level of risk to prioritise them for engagement. They should engage with clients to ensure compliance with deforestation-free standards and support traceability mechanisms for sourcing verification.

The companies and financial institutions with the biggest stakes in Brazil’s cattle supply chains have a clear opportunity for targeted action, which can turbocharge global progress toward nature and climate goals. This new data reveals the critical next steps for these key players, and many will be watching to see if they take them.

Read the report