Cargill urged to do more to combat deforestation

Global agribusiness giant Cargill has been urged to do more to fight deforestation and protect human rights by environmental group Stand.earth, AP News reported on 14 June.

The group handed Cargill a report claiming it was not following through on commitments to help end such practices and also took out full page advertisements highlighting its report in the New York Times and Minneapolis Star Tribune

“The destruction of the natural world is driven by agribusiness and agribusiness is driven by Cargill,” Stand.earth executive director Todd Paglia was quoted as saying at a news conference in Minnesota, where Cargill is based.

In response, Cargill said the group had “grossly mis-characterised” the company’s efforts.

“At Cargill, we have an unwavering commitment to protect the human rights of those who work in our operations, supply chains and communities, and work tirelessly to eliminate deforestation and conversion in South America,” Cargill said in a statement. “We do not source soy[abeans] from farmers who clear land illegally and have controls in place to prevent non-compliant product from entering our supply chains.”

The Stand.earth report stated that 500,000km² of forest had been destroyed through human activity from 2015 to 2020, primarily due to the expansion of agriculture in South America, Central America and parts of Africa, AP News wrote.

Although Cargill had promised to end deforestation practices for products in its supply chain, Stand.earth said the company had invested in ports and other infrastructure in South America that would lead to the removal of forests for land to grow soyabeans.

The Stand.earth report also claimed Cargill had not followed through on its commitments, first in 2001 and again in 2010, to end or at least reduce forced child labour in the cocoa industry, AP News wrote. It cited a US Department of Labor-funded study that found the number of children harvesting cocoa in the Ivory Coast and Ghana and the prevalence of hazardous child labour in both those countries had increased.