Retail pushback: Europe firms threaten Brazil over deforestation
Al Jazeera
Retail chains Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Norwegian pension giant KLP urge Brazil to scrap bill encouraging more land use.
A group of European companies including Tesco and Marks & Spencer have threatened to stop using Brazilian agricultural commodities if the country’s Congress passes a law expanding property rights for squatters on public land. Environmental advocates warn that the proposal would encourage deforestation by rewarding land grabbers in the Amazon rainforest who occupy properties illegally, often clear-cutting areas for agricultural use in the process. Proponents of the bill say that only by bringing properties into the legal system can they be forced to comply with Brazil’s strict laws that limit deforestation in the Amazon to 20 percent of private property.More Related News