Hello. Today's featured story is about how China's evolving consumer habits may protect Brazil's Amazon rainforest.
Xing Yanling leads the Tianjin Meat Industry Association, which represents importers responsible for around 40% of China's beef purchases from Brazil. China buys over 10% of Brazil's beef.
Now, Tianjin’s members have committed to buying 50,000 metric tons of deforestation‑free certified Brazilian beef by the end of the year.
China already changed its forest law to ban the trade of illegal timber in 2019. Then, in 2023, it signed a joint commitment with Brazil to end illegal deforestation driven by trade. Finally, last year, China’s state‑owned trader COFCO committed to eliminating deforestation from its supply chain.
MapBiomas, a Brazilian nonprofit that monitors land use, says the Amazon rainforest loses hundreds of thousands of acres of trees every year, with 90% of that land turned into pasture for cattle immediately after it is cleared.
Andre Vasconcelos, the head of global engagement for Trase, a platform that tracks the environmental impact of several supply chains, said that Brazilian beef is the agricultural commodity imported by China that is most associated with deforestation.
No Brazilian meatpackers have announced plans to adopt the certification yet.
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