Cumulative deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon hit its highest level since 2006 last year. According to official data from INPE (the Brazilian space research agency), forest destruction rose 22% from the previous year. More than 13 thousand square kilometres of forest were lost in the Amazon just between August 2020 and July 2021. On the background of such grim numbers and following a thorough analysis of their investments in Brazil, Storebrand Asset Management announced this week that they would be putting two companies, Bunge Ltd (Bunge) and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), on their observation list. “Deforestation creates financial risk for companies and their shareholders, and Storebrand Asset Management has committed to deforestation-free portfolios by 2025,” comments Jan Erik Saugestad, Storebrand AM’s CEO on the decision. “Bunge and ADM are among the companies with the highest deforestation risk in our portfolio,” he adds. “In our perspective the progress is too slow and we also believe that the ambitions are too low,” ADM and Bunge are among the world’s largest traders moving Brazilian soyabeans around the world. The increase in production of the commodity, largely used for livestock feed, has been a leading cause of deforestation of the Amazon rainforest as well as the destruction of Cerrado savannah. “We would like to see more traceability and transparency of monitoring of their supply chain across their commodities,” said Saugestad. The demands also include commitment not to source from lands deforested after January 1, 2020, whether legally or illegally. Read more here: https://nordsip.com/2022/01/24/storebrand-acts-on-deforestation/ And here: https://www.ft.com/content/136e52d2-f681-4839-b535-31c28263866f?sharetype=blocked