Deal shows
production and conservation can go hand
in hand – but that laws must be better enforced
On this page Press release - July 8, 2010
Greenpeace congratulated Brazilian soya
traders today for helping to protect the
Amazon and reduce global climate change
by extending for another year a moratorium
on buying soya from newly deforested areas.
The extension was announced at a press conference
in São Paulo attended by the Brazil’s
Environment Minister, Izabella Teixeira,
and the Soya Working Group. (1)
The latest figures (2) show that under the
moratorium, established in July 2006 (3),
Amazon deforestation has decreased while
soya yields have increased.
“The Amazon soya moratorium
demonstrates that production and conservation
can go hand in hand. But there is still
much work to be done before Brazilian agricultural
production is completely free from deforestation,”
said Paulo Adario, Greenpeace Amazon Campaign
Director. “It is imperative we sever the
link between deforestation and production
for the sake of biodiversity and the climate
as well as for the future strength of the
Brazilian economy.”
Improved forest monitoring
this year (4) led to 75 farms being caught
growing soya on newly deforested land, compared
to just 12 last year. Soya traders have
stopped doing business with all of these
farms.
Pressure from global
food giants like McDonalds and Carrefour
helped bring about the soya moratorium in
2006 and today they reaffirmed their support
and their committment that they will not
sell products containing soya linked to
Amazon destruction (5).
“The moratorium remains
a positive step in helping us control and
monitor the soya used in our supply chain.
We will continue to participate and support
this initiative to help protect the Amazon,"
said Denis Hennequin, McDonald's Europe
President.
Other sectors are also
responding to market demand. On 5 October
2009, three of the largest slaughterhouses
in Brazil – JBS, Marfrig and Minerva – signed
an agreement to prevent the expansion of
cattle ranching into the Amazon after global
brands (6) made it clear they would not
purchase cattle products linked to the destruction
of the Amazon rainforest.
“Brazilian soya and
cattle traders are supporting efforts to
stop deforestation because the global market
rejects products linked to the destruction
of the Amazon,” added Adario. “But they
cannot guarantee their products are deforestation
free until the government, farmers and traders
work together to ensure that all farms in
the Amazon are publicly registered so that
the culprits can be caught and held accountable.”
Moreover, in the Brazilian
Congress, other agribusiness sectors are
lobbying to weaken the Brazilian Forest
Code, an important environmental law that
helps protect the Amazon. Yesterday, a special
committee voted in favour of weakening this
law. Unless this is stopped, vast tracts
of the Amazon will be left vulnerable to
destruction.
“Leading soya and cattle
companies are taking positive steps to remain
competitive and fulfil global market demand
for products free from forest destruction.
It is imperative that Lula steps up and
supports them by preventing changes to the
Forest Code and defends his commitment to
prevent Brazil pushing the world towards
a climate crisis,” said Adario.
Notes to editors:
(1)The Soya Working Group includes soya
traders such as Bunge, Cargill, ADM and
Amaggi, as well as non-governmental organisations
including Greenpeace, Conservation International,
TNC, IPAM and WWF.
(2)In Mato Grosso state, for example, the
second largest soya producer in Brazil,
the planted area increased by 7.3% over
the previous crop in 2009. According to
data from the Institute of Man and Environment
(Imazon), in the same period the accumulated
deforestation in the state fell by 35% compared
to 2008/2009. The expansion of the current
soya crop occurred in areas previously occupied
by other agricultural crops and gained productivity.
(3)The landmark moratorium was first agreed
in 2006 following a campaign by Greenpeace.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/eating-up-the-amazon
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/forests/amazon/amazon-bulletin
(4) Since 2009, the National Institute for
Space Research (Inpe) has improved the scale
of the moratorium monitoring. Using satellite
imagery, Inpe can now identify clearings
sas small as 25 hectares and can differentiate
degraded forest areas and pasture land from
areas occupied by agricultural crops, such
as soya, more accurately.
(5) AHOLD, ASDA, Carrefour, Co-operative,
Kraft, Marks & Spencer, McDonald’s EU,
Nutreco, Ritter-Sport, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose
and Wal-Mart Brazil have jointly stated
they: "see the moratorium as a powerful
and essential tool to enable all of us to
achieve our ultimate goal of sustainable
sourcing. We encourage other companies and
other sectors to engage in similar efforts
to ensure that the Amazon is not cleared
for the production of any commodities."
Download the full statement and media contacts
here. (6)The companies were Walmart, Carrefour
and Cassino and shoe brands such as Nike,
Timberland, Adidas, Geox and Clarks.
+ More
Greenpeace Ends Arctic
Expedition, calls for urgent ocean and climate
protection
On this page Press release
- July 13, 2010
SVALBARD, Norway, Tuesday 13 July 2010.
As its two-month Arctic Under Pressure ship
expedition ends today, Greenpeace renewed
its calls for urgent climate action and
an immediate moratorium on industrial activities
in the Arctic Ocean. During the expedition,
the Greenpeace ship Esperanza examined some
of the threats facing fragile Arctic Ocean
ecosystems.
As well as capturing breathtaking images
of previously unseen areas of the sea floor
north of Svalbard [1], the expedition supported
groundbreaking research into the effects
of ocean acidification caused by CO2 pollution[2].
As climate change causes
the Arctic sea ice to melt, the Arctic Ocean
is coming under increasing threats from
potentially expanded industrial activities,
including fishing, and oil and gas exploration.
"Greenpeace saw
for the first time a very diverse and sensitive
Arctic Ocean ecosystem rich in marine organisms
such as soft corals, sea squirts and sponges",
said Greenpeace Nordic expedition leader
Frida Bengtsson. "Allowing industrial
fishing fleets to take advantage of the
melting ice by advancing northwards puts
these incredible habitats at risk of destruction
even before they have been properly studied."
Greenpeace urges the
world to learn from the collapse of fish
species such as North Atlantic cod, from
overfishing, and the devastation wreaked
by the Gulf oil spill, and apply those lessons
to the Arctic Ocean.
"We must
give the Arctic Ocean - a pristine polar
ocean wilderness - real protection from
the double threat of resource exploitation
and climate change," continued Bengtsson.
"Governments must agree stronger controls
to protect the Arctic, including an international
moratorium on all industrial activities."
The expedition also
supported German marine science institute
IFM-GEOMAR in carrying out the largest ever
experiment on ocean acidification, a process
caused by the ocean's absorption of CO2
pollution from industrial emissions [3].
"The experiment
was a success," said Professor Ulf
Riebesell leader of the IFM-GEOMAR ocean
acidification project. "Not only do
we now have the most comprehensive data
set ever on the impacts of ocean acidification
in Arctic waters, we have also learned from
this experiment that ocean acidification
in these waters has a definite impact on
the base of the food web, which can have
implications for the entire ecosystem.
"If we keep
emitting CO2 at the current rate, marine
organisms will experience changes in ocean
acidity beyond anything they have experienced
in the last 20 million years of their evolutionary
history."
"Immediate and
substantial greenhouse gas emission cuts
are needed if we are to avoid the devastation
of marine ecosystems" concluded Bengtsson.
"Governments meeting in Cancun, Mexico
in December for the next round of UN Climate
negotiations, must add ocean acidification
to the list of compelling reasons to agree
a fair, ambitious and legally binding deal
to reduce CO2."
+ More
Greenpeace Releases
First Ever Responsible Seafood Guide in
Japan
Urging Consumers, Retailers
to Quit Bluefin Tuna in Year of Biodiversity
On this page Press release - July 21, 2010
Greenpeace Japan released its first seafood
ranking guide today: “red listing” 15 fish
species that should be removed from Japanese
shelves, including five different species
of tuna.
Japan consumes 25% of the world’s tuna,
including more than three-quarters of the
remaining critically endangered bluefin
tuna. With 80% of the world’s fish populations
fully exploited, over-exploited or depleted(1),
Greenpeace is urging Japanese consumers,
retailers and restaurants to remove red-listed
fish from their shopping lists, plates,
shelves and freezers. Japan, the industrial
nation with the biggest per capita seafood
consumption, will host this year’s Convention
on Biological Diversity (CBD), where leaders
must set aside more ocean areas as off-limits
to fishing and industrial activities from
which our oceans can be restored to health.
“The ongoing destructive
fishing for Pacific bluefin tuna, which
begins this month, is only one example of
how fishing industries and governments are
failing our oceans, “ said Wakao Hanaoka,
Greenpeace Japan oceans campaigner. “Overfishing
has driven bluefin fisheries to the brink
of collapse in all the world’s oceans, and
other tuna species will follow if urgent
action to defend our oceans and protect
the species is not taken immediately. It
is up to supermarkets, restaurant chains
and consumers to take action where politicians
have not, only then will future generations
have healthy oceans.”
Pacific bluefin tuna
is high on the Greenpeace Japan ‘red list’,
a large tuna species that is fished using
destructive purse-seining vessels in the
Sea of Japan. Its meat is highly prized
and has lead to massive overfishing, for
several years 90% of the whole bluefin catch
has been of juvenile fish less than one
year old, taking this species to the verge
of collapse. Earlier this year, Greenpeace
took action in the Mediterranean to demand
the closure of the Atlantic bluefin tuna
fishery, to allow the species to recover
to levels that would enable future fishing.
Japanese demand for bluefin is driving the
species’ disappearance around the world.
Greenpeace’s seafood ranking guides have
helped to raise public awareness of the
role overfishing for seafood plays in oceans
destruction. They have been instrumental
in securing retailer commitments to source
more sustainably-sourced seafood.
Greenpeace is campaigning
to establish a global network of marine
reserves covering 40% of the world’s oceans:
areas off-limits to fishing and other industrial
activities. This network of marine reserves
can help produce a viable future for fishermen
and in creating healthy oceans for future
generations.
“It is high time for
the establishment of a global network of
marine reserves, including areas for the
protection of the world’s tuna species.
As the host of the CBD meeting, Japan has
the opportunity to show leadership on oceans
protection,” added Hanaoka.
Greenpeace’s priority
areas for ocean protection include bluefin
tuna spawning grounds in the Sea of Japan,
the Mediterranean Sea, and areas of the
Pacific Ocean.
Notes to Editors:
1. The United Nations
Food and Agriculture Organisation's 2008
"State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture"
reports that "Overall, 80 percent of
the world fish stocks for which assessment
information is available are reported as
fully exploited or overexploited..."
can be found here:
http://www.fao.org/docrep/011/i0250e/i0250e00.htm
