The hand on the axe
How global shipping giants make money from deforestation. The news rather dampened the pleasant anticipation of the Christmas feast. In two years major shipping lines transported more than 500,000 t of meat from slaughterhouses associated with the deforestation of Brazilian rainforests.
The controversy concerning the role of Brazilian beef as one of the main causes of destruction of the Amazon rainforests – considered an important line of defence against climate change – already has rather a long history. Without major international shipping lines, however, the meat wouldn’t even make it onto supermarket shelves worldwide.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) revealed in December 2024 that, in the last two years, shipping lines transported more than 500,000 t of beef and leather out of the country from slaughterhouses linked to the destruction of tropical forests in Brazil. This weight is equivalent to half of the United Kingdom’s annual beef consumption.
“Silent companions of destruction”
New data from consulting firm Aid Environment also shows that between August 2021 and July 2023, twelve meat factories belonging to Brazil’s three largest beef companies – JBS, Marfrig, Minerva – were linked to a total of at least 4,600 km2 of deforestation loss, an area three times the size of London.
Shipping lines transported hundreds of shipments of beef and leather from these slaughterhouses to Europe, China and the United States of America in 2022 and 2023.
“Large shipping lines are the silent enablers of the multi-billion dollar global trade in deforestation-prone commodities such as beef and leather,” according to Alex Wijeratna, a senior director of the environmental campaign group Mighty Earth. “But they remain under the radar when it comes to legal responsibility.”
Falling below their own standards
Most shipping lines have guidelines that set standards concerning the goods they transport, it’s true. Some refuse to transport illegally harvested timber, for example, or smuggled wild animals, amongst a number of other products.
Such in-house regulations usually conform to existing international rules and restrictions, and thus may not address beef and leather exports from deforested areas.
A landmark EU law to tackle deforestation related to beef, soy and other products was due to come into force at the end of 2024, but will now be postponed by a year.
So all that remains are appeals like that of Holly Gibbs, director of the Global Land Use and Environment Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Shipping lines need to become more involved and make their own commitments to sustainable supply chains and transport goods not produced thanks to deforestation.”