NGOs push Bunge for stronger measures on deforestation

In the report​, the company revealed its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, ramp up decarbonisation, and promote regenerative farming practices​.

Bunge has also brought its deforestation cutoff date forward by 12 months to the end of this year​ as it aims to position itself as a sustainable solutions provider, connecting farmers to consumers and delivering essential food, feed and fuel sustainably.

"In 2015, Bunge announced a commitment to be free of deforestation and native vegetation conversion in our value chains in 2025. Through the concerted efforts of our global organization and partners, we are on track to meet a major piece of this commitment early,” explained Bunge’s chief sustainability officer and government affairs Robert J Coviello.

“By the end of this year, we anticipate that we will no longer source soy from areas defined as at-risk of being deforested or where native vegetation has been converted to farmland due to soy cropping." 

Bunge revealed that in 2023 it achieved a total reduction of its Scope 1 and 2 emissions of around 15.8% and saw a reduction of 10.6% in Scope 3 emissions from its value chains.

It also outlined the feasibility studies it is conducting for the development of a blockchain traceability solution for deforestation-free soy and derived products.

“The study involves grains originating in Brazil and destined for various countries in Asia. The aim is to build a sustainable, digitally integrated supply chain that enables the transfer of grain traceability data, involving information from the field to the final customer, with an additional layer of reliability that blockchain technology offers.”

Mighty opposition​

But these are small steps forward, according to critics. NGO Mighty Earth has complained that the soy giant remains out of step with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) which has a legally binding 2020 cut-off date. This means any soy grown on land deforested after 2020 will not be compliant with the new law.

“Deforestation and conversion of natural vegetation, particularly in the Cerrado region, is still surging,” said Alex Wijeratna, senior director at Might Earth.

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has also alleged that Bunge has been purchasing palm oil from mills linked to recent deforestation in Indonesia. According to the EIA, Bunge has sourced palm oil from mills that have been involved in significant deforestation activities, despite having 'no deforestation' policies in place.

Bunge has addressed these allegations with moves to improve its supply chain practices​ – such as due diligence measures, a grievance procedures, and transparency and traceability efforts. But the effectiveness of these measures in fully resolving the deforestation issues remains a subject of ongoing scrutiny and evaluation.

Bunge claims it can meet its commitment to 100% traceability at the farm level for both direct and indirect soy supply chains, (and) ensure that “for the whole year of 2025 onwards, our soy products will not contribute to deforestation”.

But Mighty Earth wants Bunge to implement “an immediate Zero Deforestation and Conversion-free (ZDC) policy with a 2020 deforestation cut-off date, as well as to adopt a public and transparent mechanism of grievances, with public disclosure of their suppliers.”

Wijeratna said: “With our Rapid Response system, we will be watching the situation very closely to monitor that there has been no deforestation or conversion since 2020 and that Bunge's new commitments are implemented. Our concern is there will be a race this year to deforest even more natural ecosystems, pushing the Cerrado and other biomes like the Pantanal even further towards collapse.”