Cattle in Brazil: more action urgently needed in the most influential sector for global deforestation

To move the needle on global deforestation and linked greenhouse gas emissions, cattle is the single most influential commodity and Brazil has the most significant cattle sector in the world. Deforestation for cattle expansion in Brazil amounts to almost 60% of global pasture-driven deforestation, emitting almost as much greenhouse gas each year as the whole Italian economy.

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With COP16 rightly bringing deforestation to the heart of nature and climate conversations – and just a year before Brazil presides over COP30 – there is no time to lose for action on this critical sector.

Despite this, the level of corporate action on deforestation in cattle supply chains is staggeringly low. Floresta 250 – Cattle, a new project from Global Canopy, has assessed the 175 companies with the most influence on this sector, looking at their links to beef, leather or both.

New preliminary findings from the baseline assessment, released today, reveal that eight in 10 (83%) of these companies are yet to publish commitments for the cattle commodities they are exposed to. Companies perform slightly better on beef (81%) than on leather (87%).

When compared to the global picture, these findings are particularly stark. Globally, 65% of the companies with the greatest influence on deforestation linked to beef and 70% of those linked to leather have still not set a single publicly available deforestation commitment for these commodities.

The companies in Floresta 250 – Cattle are also largely ignoring the inextricable link between deforestation and human rights. Just three of the 175 companies have a publicly available commitment for the most critical human rights issues in commodity supply chains.

Corporate commitments are just the starting point. A key indicator of meaningful action is whether companies disclose the volumes of these commodities as deforestation- and conversion-free. The results here, too, are discouraging. Nine in 10 (91%) companies had not publicly disclosed any volumes for leather, while 88% had not publicly disclosed any volumes for beef.

Targeted action for effective change

Alongside other countries, Brazil has committed to halting and reversing global forest loss and land degradation by 2030. For this goal to be achieved, companies in cattle supply chains will need to act now. With just 12% of cattle-producing municipalities accounting for 95% of Brazil’s cattle-related deforestation, there is a clear opportunity to target effective action.

The first step for companies must be to assess their exposure to deforestation, ecosystem conversion and the associated human rights abuses. They should set and publish a strong deforestation commitment covering their entire operations and/or supply chains – including indirect suppliers – with an ambitious target date for eliminating it. Companies should also start engaging with their suppliers – no matter how small – and bring them into compliance with the company’s commitment.

The finance sector, which funds these companies through loans and investments, and provides financial services to them, also has a key role to play in shaping business practice for the better.

The full Floresta 250 – Cattle dataset, to be published in December, will be available to support financial institutions in assessing and acting on their exposure to this critical nature-related risk in a key sector.

The destruction of natural ecosystems fuels the climate crisis and destabilises water cycles, with consequences that are increasingly visible in media headlines day by day, from floods to food insecurity and threats to the hydroelectricity supply. With strategic and timely action, Brazil can make significant strides to prevent these climate impacts from worsening and lead the global transition to a deforestation-free bioeconomy.

This preview of findings was first presented at biodiversity COP16 in Cali in October 2024. The full baseline assessment of the 175 companies and 75 financial institutions with the greatest influence on Brazilian cattle supply chains will be published in December.