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Tag Archive for: soy

Une approche pragmatique des chaînes d’approvisionnement zéro-déforestation : coup de projecteur sur les exportations de soja brésilien vers la France

15 September 2020/by Thomas Sembres

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De vastes étendues de l’Amazonie brésilienne et du Cerrado sont parties en fumée l’année dernière. Et la saison des incendies est repartie de plus belle cette année, car la déforestation continue à progresser pour faire place aux pâturages pour le bétail et aux champs de soja. Le Brésil constitue aujourd’hui la principale source d’importation de soja en Europe ; les Pays-Bas, l’Espagne et la France comptant parmi les plus gros importateurs. En effet, le soja importé, principalement destiné à l’alimentation animale, est responsable de la moitié de l’empreinte de l’Union européenne (UE) sur les forêts tropicales.

Face aux défis mondiaux en matière de climat et de biodiversité, les entreprises et les gouvernements se sont engagés à réduire leur empreinte sur la déforestation.

La déforestation en cours au Brésil, et dans d’autres régions du monde, mine néanmoins ces efforts, nuisant aussi à la réputation de secteurs entiers. Mais comment distinguer le soja zéro-déforestation du reste ?

Identifier les points chauds 

Aussi surprenant que cela puisse paraître, peu d’acheteurs sont susceptibles de connaître la provenance de leurs importations de soja. Les chaînes d’approvisionnement en matières premières agricoles sont complexes. En effet, issu de différentes régions, le soja est conditionné en vrac avant d’être expédié. Cela signifie que même des quantités relativement faibles de soja associé à la déforestation peuvent contaminer l’ensemble de la chaîne d’approvisionnement.

La dernière étude de Trase sur la déforestation liée aux matières premières agricoles montre que plus de la moitié du risque de déforestation lié aux exportations brésiliennes est concentré au sein de 1 % des municipalités produisant du soja.

Si l’on se concentre sur les exportations de soja brésilien, on sait que la déforestation liée au soja est fortement concentrée dans la région du nom de Matopiba, qui couvre une partie des biomes vulnérables de l’Amazonie et du Cerrado. Il s’avère que près de 90 % du risque de déforestation récent associé aux exportations de soja du Brésil se trouve dans cette région.

Pour les importateurs européens, seuls 7 % des importations de soja de l’UE en provenance du Brésil en 2018 provenaient de cette région à haut risque. Pourtant, ces importations représentaient 61 % de l’exposition de l’UE au risque de déforestation du soja. Comment les gouvernements et les acheteurs peuvent-ils utiliser au mieux ce type d’informations pour lutter contre le risque de déforestation lié à leurs approvisionnements ?  

Illegal deforestation (ha) on soy farms per municipality in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Half of France’s risk is concentrated in the three municipalities highlighted
Déforestation illégale (ha) dans les exploitations de soja par municipalité dans le Mato Grosso, au Brésil. La moitié du risque importé en France est concentré dans les trois municipalités mises en évidence Source: Trase

La nécessité d’une attention particulière

Les récentes discussions des parties prenantes sur la mise en œuvre de la stratégie nationale de lutte contre la déforestation importée en France ont mis en évidence la nécessité d’adopter une approche pragmatique. La traçabilité et l’engagement dans les zones que l’on sait les plus touchées par la déforestation s’avèrent prioritaires, tout en descendant si possible au niveau des exploitations agricoles.

Pour les acheteurs français, cela signifierait que la traçabilité et une plus grande transparence dans seulement 12 % des municipalités productrices de soja au Brésil leur permettraient de vérifier ce qui se passe au sein des exploitations agricoles des zones où a lieu 90 % de la déforestation liée au soja.

Certains des plus grands négociants en soja ont adopté une approche similaire dans le cadre des travaux du Soft Commodities Forum (le Forum des matières premières agricoles). Ils travaillent à la mise en place d’une traçabilité complète au niveau des exploitations dans 25 municipalités à haut risque au Brésil, mais la divulgation effective de ces informations à des fins de vérification indépendante reste à voir.

Identifier l’origine du problème

Une récente étude de Trase, Imaflora et ICV montre qu’il est possible de réaliser des évaluations de la déforestation au niveau des exploitations agricoles à l’aide de données accessibles au public. Les auteurs ont ainsi utilisé des données officielles relatives aux licences de déforestation afin d’identifier les endroits où la déforestation avait eu lieu sans licence et qui, par conséquent, s’avérait illégale.

Dans le Mato Grosso, premier État brésilien en matière de production de soja, 95 % de la déforestation dans les exploitations de soja a été jugée illégale et 80 % de celle-ci s’est produite au sein de seulement 400 exploitations, soit 2 % de l’ensemble des exploitations de soja de l’État.

La France est l’un des pays d’Europe les plus exposés au risque de soja associé à la déforestation illégale. Près d’un quart (23 %) des importations françaises de soja provenant du Mato Grosso en 2018 était probablement issu d’exploitations dont la déforestation était illégale.

Par ailleurs, la source de ce risque peut être identifiée plus précisément : seules trois municipalités (Paranatinga, Gaúcha do Norte et Porto Alegre do Norte) concentrent 50 % de ce risque. En évaluant les débouchés commerciaux du soja dans ces municipalités, l’étude a montré qu’une poignée d’entreprises dominaient le commerce d’exportation du soja.

Les possibilités d’action

La déforestation liée au soja étant fortement concentrée dans des localités particulières et des entreprises spécifiques, des actions ciblées dans ces domaines pourraient avoir un impact relativement élevé.

Les gouvernements des pays consommateurs passent ainsi à côté de possibilités inexploitées qui permettraient une transformation profonde du secteur, sur la base d’une transparence et une collaboration accrues. À cet effet, il faudrait que les fournisseurs fassent preuve de davantage de transparence concernant l’origine des exportations, et que les gouvernements et les entreprises travaillent conjointement en vue d’identifier et de surveiller les zones prioritaires à haut risque au sein des chaînes d’approvisionnement mondiales.

Les acheteurs, mis sur un pied d’égalité, pourraient ainsi mieux gérer les risques de déforestation au sein de leurs activités commerciales.

En activant ces leviers, les gouvernements et les entreprises pourraient réaliser des progrès réels en vue d’une économie sans déforestation.

André Vasconcelos

André Vasconcelos

Associé de recherche

Trase/Global Canopy

https://euredd.efi.int/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/illegal-deforestation-soy-mato-grosso-brazil-trase.png 804 1161 Thomas Sembres https://euredd.efi.int/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/EU-REDD-Facility-logo-tagline.svg Thomas Sembres2020-09-15 17:26:002022-07-07 17:33:18Une approche pragmatique des chaînes d’approvisionnement zéro-déforestation : coup de projecteur sur les exportations de soja brésilien vers la France

A pragmatic approach to deforestation-free supply chains: spotlight on Brazilian soy exports to France

15 September 2020/by Thomas Sembres

Lire en français

Vast swathes of the Brazilian Amazon and the Cerrado went up in smoke last year. And the fire season may be worse this year as deforestation is on the rise again to make way for cattle pasture and soy fields. Brazil is the main source of soy imports to Europe, with the Netherlands, Spain and France among the biggest importers. In fact imported soy, primarily used for animal feed, is responsible for half of the European Union’s (EU) tropical forest footprint.

Facing up to the global climate and biodiversity challenges, companies and governments have committed to reduce their deforestation footprints. 

Ongoing deforestation in Brazil and elsewhere undermines their efforts, damaging the reputation of entire sectors. But how can the deforestation-free soy be sorted from the rest?

Identifying the hotspots 

Surprising as it may seem, few buyers are likely to know where their soy imports have come from. Commodity supply chains are complex, with soy from different areas bulked for shipping. This means that even relatively small quantities of soy associated with deforestation can contaminate the whole supply chain. 

The latest review of commodity deforestation by Trase shows that more than half the soy deforestation risk linked to Brazilian exports is concentrated in 1% of the municipalities producing soy.

Focusing on Brazilian soy exports, we know that soy-related deforestation is highly concentrated in the region known as Matopiba, covering parts of the vulnerable Amazon and Cerrado biomes. Nearly 90% of the recent deforestation risk associated with Brazil’s soy exports is found in this region. 

For European importers, just 7% of the EU’s soy imports from Brazil in 2018 came from this high-risk region. Yet these imports accounted for 61% of the EU’s exposure to soy deforestation risk. How can governments and buyers best make use of this kind of information to tackle the deforestation risk linked to their supplies?  

Illegal deforestation (ha) on soy farms per municipality in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Half of France’s risk is concentrated in the three municipalities highlighted
Illegal deforestation (ha) on soy farms per municipality in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Half of France’s risk is concentrated in the three municipalities highlighted. Source: Trase

A need for focus

Recent stakeholder discussions on the implementation of the national strategy to address imported deforestation in France have highlighted the need for a pragmatic approach. Traceability and engagement in the areas known to have the biggest problem with deforestation are prioritised – going down to farm level where possible.

For French buyers, this would mean that traceability and more transparency in just 12% of the soy-producing municipalities in Brazil would allow them to see what was happening on the farms in the areas where 90% of the deforestation for soy occurs. 

Some of the biggest soy traders have been taking a similar approach through the work of the Soft Commodities Forum. They are working towards full farm-level traceability in 25 high-risk municipalities in Brazil, but the actual disclosure of this information for independent verification is yet to be seen.

Identifying the source of the problem

A recent study by Trase, Imaflora, and ICV shows the potential for conducting farm-level assessments of deforestation at scale with publicly accessible data. The authors used official data on deforestation licences to identify where deforestation had taken place without a licence and so was illegal. 

In Mato Grosso, the leading Brazilian state for soy production, 95% of the deforestation on soy farms was found to be illegal and 80% of this illegal deforestation was on just 400 farms ─ 2% of all the soy farms in the state. 

France is one of the countries in Europe that is most exposed to soy associated with illegal deforestation. Almost a quarter (23%) of France’s soy imports from Mato Grosso in 2018 were likely to have come from farms where illegal deforestation had taken place. 

But the source of this risk can be pinpointed more precisely – with just three municipalities (Paranatinga, Gaúcha do Norte, and Porto Alegre do Norte) accounting for 50% of that risk. When assessing trading patterns from these municipalities, the study found that a handful of companies dominated the soy exports trade.

Opportunities for action

Because deforestation associated with soy is highly concentrated in particular places and among specific suppliers, targeting action in those areas can have a relatively high impact.

Governments in consumer countries are sitting on untapped opportunities to trigger a wider transformation of the sector, built on greater transparency and collaboration. To make a real difference, this would require far greater transparency from suppliers on the origin of exports, and governments and companies would need to work together to identify and monitor the priority, high-risk areas within global supply chains. 

This would level the playing field for buyers, allowing them to much better manage deforestation risks in their business. 

By pulling these levers, governments and companies could make far greater progress towards a deforestation-free economy.

André Vasconcelos

André Vasconcelos

Research associate

Trase/Global Canopy

https://euredd.efi.int/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/illegal-deforestation-soy-mato-grosso-brazil-trase.png 804 1161 Thomas Sembres https://euredd.efi.int/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/EU-REDD-Facility-logo-tagline.svg Thomas Sembres2020-09-15 16:37:002022-07-07 17:34:07A pragmatic approach to deforestation-free supply chains: spotlight on Brazilian soy exports to France

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