{"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":"2026-06-29T14:55:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T12:55:19","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\" title=\"Drought and Smoke on the Xingu River  in the Amazon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/09\/934f1c4e-gp0su2g50.jpg\" alt=\"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. These events have severe impacts on the environment and local communities, especially in the Capoto-Jarina Indigenous Territory, located in the Upper Xingu region of Mato Grosso. In addition to the seriousness of the situation, there is a lack of effective public policies to mitigate and respond to these phenomena, leaving vulnerable populations even more exposed to the effects of the climate crisis.\" 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 aria-hidden=\"true\" 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\" title=\"Respect the Amazon Expedition: Juru\u00e1 River\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/09\/73cfe45c-gp0su5ios.jpg\" alt=\"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\n\nThere are many examples of local development that integrate social advances, conservation and even forest and biodiversity recovery: true forest solutions. However, there is a historical lack of investment in real solutions that are already being developed by the peoples of the forest. State programs, such as the National Policy for Indigenous Territorial Management, lack a larger budget and, in general, do not receive parliamentary amendments for their implementation.\n\nTo show one of the most successful examples of this local development, Greenpeace Brazil returns to the middle Juru\u00e1 River region with the RESPECT THE AMAZON expedition, where we were 25 years ago to denounce illegal logging, and where our first partnership with indigenous peoples was born, in the self-demarcation of the Deni Indigenous Land, which today is an important mosaic of Amazonian biodiversity.\" 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 aria-hidden=\"true\" 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}]}}