{"id":78688,"date":"2025-09-20T16:18:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T14:18:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=78688"},"modified":"2025-09-20T16:18:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T14:18:30","slug":"who-profits-amazon-rainforest-burns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/78688\/who-profits-amazon-rainforest-burns\/","title":{"rendered":"Who profits when the Amazon rainforest burns?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Fires may be lower this year, but the Amazon is still being deliberately cleared for profit.<br><br>For decades, fires have been set in order to renew farmland and pastures, or to clear new areas, most often for cattle. This is not a natural disaster. It is part of a production chain that prioritises Big Ag profits over people, forests, and the climate. <a href=\"https:\/\/brasil.mapbiomas.org\/en\/2025\/06\/24\/area-queimada-no-brasil-em-2024-supera-media-historica-em-62\/\">In 2024, the Amazon recorded its largest burned area in 40 years: 15.6 million hectares, 117% above average<\/a>, according to MapBiomas. While 2025 fires are predicted to be calmer, thanks to preventive efforts by the Brazilian government and due to a milder climate, the destructive system that fuels these crises is still in place.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/09\/934f1c4e-gp0su2g50.jpg\" title=\"Drought and Smoke on the Xingu River  in the Amazon. \u00a9 Marizilda Cruppe \/ Greenpeace\" alt=\"Drought and Smoke on the Xingu River  in the Amazon. \u00a9 Marizilda Cruppe \/ Greenpeace\" class=\"wp-image-78689\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/09\/934f1c4e-gp0su2g50.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/09\/934f1c4e-gp0su2g50-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/09\/934f1c4e-gp0su2g50-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/09\/934f1c4e-gp0su2g50-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/09\/934f1c4e-gp0su2g50-510x340.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Indigenous Territories in the Amazon are facing a devastating combination of extreme drought and forest fires, driven by the intensification of climate change and criminal activities from illegal mining and other exploitative actions.<div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Marizilda Cruppe \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Who profits when the Amazon burns?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<p>The number one cause of Amazon deforestation is pasture expansion for meat production. Big Ag companies like<a href=\"https:\/\/www.globalwitness.org\/en\/campaigns\/forests\/jaguars-vs-cows-the-biodiversity-crisis-under-jbs-shadow\/\"> JBS<\/a>, the world\u2019s largest meat company, are strongly associated with deforestation risks through their supply chains.<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>JBS bought cattle from the area with the highest number of fires in the Amazon, <a href=\"https:\/\/reporterbrasil.org.br\/2019\/08\/jbs-marfrig-e-frigol-compram-gado-de-desmatadores-em-area-campea-de-focos-de-incendio-na-amazonia\/\">according to an investigation by Rep\u00f3rter Brasil.<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mightyearth.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/ME_BR_JBS_FactSheet_A4_ENG_Apr04_Final.pdf\">According to Mighty Earth<\/a>, JBS failed to act on deforestation alerts for 59 cattle ranches. On 22 of those farms, clearance continued \u2014 adding another 18,458 hectares of deforestation as of late 2023.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>The Pantanal, one of Earth&#8217;s richest wetlands, is also being consumed by fire. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/publication\/46577\/pantanal-brazil-fires-jbs-meat-cattle\/\">A recent Greenpeace International report reveals that nearly 120,000 km\u00b2 of the Pantanal burned between 2019 and 2023, mostly driven by illegal land clearing for cattle ranching. <\/a>Companies like JBS profit, while frontline communities suffer loss of homes, livelihoods, and ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>It\u2019s not just trees, it\u2019s lives!<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<p>Forest fires don\u2019t just destroy biodiversity. They damage health, threaten livelihoods, and violate the rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs).<\/p>\n\n<p>People on the frontlines continue to defend the forest, often at great personal risk, to protect what\u2019s left:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/unearthed.greenpeace.org\/2024\/10\/31\/jbs-deforestation-brazil-pantanal-wetlands\">Wildlife rescuers<\/a> work day and night to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=uzunWTR_PWI&amp;pp=ygUYd29ybGQgb24gZmlyZSBncmVlbnBlYWNl\">save animals from the flames.<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kluxN1aNyHA&amp;pp=ygUYd29ybGQgb24gZmlyZSBncmVlbnBlYWNl\">Doctors and community leaders<\/a> fight to keep their families safe from toxic smoke.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Forest-friendly farmers are building alternatives through agroecology, growing food without destruction.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>There is another way<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<p>The Amazon doesn\u2019t have to be a sacrifice zone for meat production. Agroecology, Indigenous and Local Communities&#8217; leadership, and local solutions are already working. What\u2019s missing isn\u2019t just public policy; it\u2019s accountability. While some governments are stepping up, too many private investors and financial institutions still fund destruction instead of protection.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cozinhandooplaneta.org.br\/en\/\">The Greenpeace Brazil dossier makes it clear,<\/a> Big Ag giants have made repeated climate and deforestation promises. But these pledges lack transparency, credible action plans function more as corporate PR than genuine solutions.<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The choice is simple: Whose side are you on?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/09\/73cfe45c-gp0su5ios.jpg\" title=\"Respect the Amazon Expedition: Juru\u00e1 River. \u00a9 Nilmar Lage \/ Greenpeace\" alt=\"Respect the Amazon Expedition: Juru\u00e1 River. \u00a9 Nilmar Lage \/ Greenpeace\" class=\"wp-image-78690\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/09\/73cfe45c-gp0su5ios.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/09\/73cfe45c-gp0su5ios-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/09\/73cfe45c-gp0su5ios-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/09\/73cfe45c-gp0su5ios-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/09\/73cfe45c-gp0su5ios-453x340.jpg 453w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Amazon is proof that real solutions come from the peoples of the forest \u2014 it is urgent to finance them directly with climate resources, a central theme of COP30<div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Nilmar Lage \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>Do we keep letting billionaires profit from forest loss?<em> Or do we stand with the people defending the Amazon for everyone?<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t\t<section\n\t\t\tclass=\"boxout  \"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\tdata-ga-category=\"Take Action Boxout\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-ga-action=\"Image\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-ga-label=\"n\/a\"\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"cover-card-overlay\"\n\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/act\/respect-amazon\" \n\t\t\t><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/03\/54e64eac-gp1ta6ez-1024x683.jpg\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsrcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/03\/54e64eac-gp1ta6ez-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/03\/54e64eac-gp1ta6ez-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/03\/54e64eac-gp1ta6ez-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/03\/54e64eac-gp1ta6ez-510x340.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/03\/54e64eac-gp1ta6ez.jpg 1200w\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 358px, (min-width: 780px) 313px, 88px\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\talt=\"Illegal Mining in the Sarar\u00e9 Indigenous Land in the Amazon. \u00a9 Fabio Bispo \/ Greenpeace\" title=\"Illegal Mining in the Sarar\u00e9 Indigenous Land in the Amazon. \u00a9 Fabio Bispo \/ Greenpeace\"\n\t\t\t\t\/>\n            \t\t\t<div class=\"boxout-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"boxout-heading medium\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-ga-category=\"Take Action Boxout\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-ga-action=\"Title\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-ga-label=\"n\/a\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/act\/respect-amazon\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRespect the Amazon\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"boxout-excerpt\">Demand global leaders to respect the Amazon!<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t                                    <a\n                        class=\"btn btn-primary\"\n                        data-ga-category=\"Take Action Boxout\"\n                        data-ga-action=\"Call to Action\"\n                        data-ga-label=\"n\/a\"\n                        href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/act\/respect-amazon\"\n                        \n                    >\n                        Sign now\n                    <\/a>\n                \t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t\n<p><em>\u00a0Alessandro Saccoccio is the Respect the Amazon Project Lead at Greenpeace International.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fires clear land. Big Ag cashes in. But local communities, wildlife defenders, and farmers are resisting, and building real solutions for the Amazon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":78689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[84],"p4-page-type":[59],"class_list":["post-78688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature","tag-forests","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78688"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78699,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78688\/revisions\/78699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78688"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=78688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}