Politics, trade, and forest conservation
The president of Brazil ushers in a new era of deforestation in the sad saga of Brazil’s land conflicts. As consumers we should not be complicit in his agenda, says Jaboury Ghazoul, professor for Ecosystem Management at ETH Zurich and member of the Swiss Plant Science Web.
He pleas for consumers of Brazilian agricultural products, to insist on the application of due diligence by European companies and by banks to eradicate deforestation and human rights abuses from agricultural supply chains and capital investments.
The OECD already provides a framework to ensure that agricultural supply chains respect human rights and environmental standards8. Such regulations could be given teeth by including laws and mechanisms for prosecution of EU nationals and companies that benefit from illegal land conversion.