End of Soy Moratorium increases pressure on EUDR

The end of the Amazon Soy Moratorium is raising major concerns about rising deforestation. With the collapse of this agreement, vast areas of forest are at risk of being lost. Over the next decade, at least 1.4 million additional hectares of rainforest could vanish. That is according to the World Wildlife Fund, based on research published in Science.

Imminent loss of forest

In 2006, soy traders agreed not to source soy from land deforested after July 2008. As a result, deforestation for new soy fields dropped almost completely at the time. WWF calls this the most successful voluntary agreement to fight deforestation in history. Now that the agreement is falling away, the risk of larger forest areas being converted into agricultural land is growing. The resulting CO2 emissions equal five times the annual emissions of the Netherlands.

Pressure on legislation

“The soy moratorium has proven that companies, backed by effective government policy, can take major steps to protect nature,” says Seline Meijer, forests expert at WWF. “At the same time, this research shows that voluntary agreements are also vulnerable under political and legal pressure. That is why strong regulations are needed, both in Brazil itself and in consumer markets like the European Union.” Europe must enforce the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) quickly and fully.

Tipping point for the climate

According to researchers, the Amazon is approaching a critical tipping point for the climate. This could cause the rainforest to change irreversibly, with massive global consequences. “We are also calling on companies to buy exclusively deforestation-free soy to strengthen the demand for deforestation-free supply chains.” Facing extreme heat and El Niño, we cannot afford further deforestation. Companies and governments must show that deforestation has no place in our supply chains.

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