{"id":80655,"date":"2026-01-16T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T23:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=80655"},"modified":"2026-01-19T16:51:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T15:51:52","slug":"amazons-best-shield-cracking-soy-moratorium-defended","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/80655\/amazons-best-shield-cracking-soy-moratorium-defended\/","title":{"rendered":"The Amazon\u2019s best shield is cracking: Why the soy moratorium must be defended"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2026 has got off to a terrible start for the Amazon rainforest. On 5 January, the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries (ABIOVE), the industry group representing the largest soybean traders in Brazil, announced plans to withdraw from the Amazon Soy Moratorium. The move confirms the worst fears of the global movement to protect the Amazon: the world\u2019s single most successful zero-deforestation policy is hanging by a thread.<\/p>\n\n

\"Agribusiness
The region between the states of Maranh\u00e3o, Tocantins, Piau\u00ed and Bahia, known as MATOPIBA in Brazil., is considered the showcase of Brazilian agribusiness, with a high productions of soy and corn for export.
\u00a9 Marizilda Cruppe \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

A Landmark Agreement is Fraying<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

The Amazon Soy Moratorium is not just another corporate pledge; it is widely considered one of the most successful zero-deforestation agreements in history. <\/p>\n\n

In 2006, Greenpeace International exposed<\/a> how soy grown on recently deforested land was being used as animal feed – ultimately supplying major brands like McDonald\u2019s and other global fast-food and supermarket chains. The resulting global outrage led commodity traders, working with civil society groups led by Greenpeace, to establish the Soy Moratorium – a ground-breaking agreement that halted the expansion of soy onto newly deforested land in the Amazon.<\/p>\n\n

\"Agribusiness
The region between the states of Maranh\u00e3o, Tocantins, Piau\u00ed and Bahia, known as MATOPIBA in Brazil., is considered the showcase of Brazilian agribusiness, with a high productions of soy and corn for export.
\u00a9 Marizilda Cruppe \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Before the pact was signed, up to 30% of new soy fields<\/a> in the Amazon were created by clearing primary rainforest. Today, thanks to the soy agreement, that figure has plummeted, with less than 4% of soy being planted in deforested areas<\/a> as of July 2025 and has enabled Brazil to triple its soy production<\/a> without torching its most vital ecosystem, proving that farming can be done in a way that does not harm our forests.<\/p>\n\n

The catalyst for today\u2019s crisis is a new law introduced by the state legislature of Mato Grosso, Brazil\u2019s soybean capital, that came into force on 1 January 2026. This legislation – pushed by Brazil\u2019s powerful agribusiness lobby<\/a> – strips tax benefits from any company that participates in any voluntary environmental agreement that goes beyond Brazilian environmental legislation, of which the Soy Moratorium is the most prominent example. <\/p>\n\n

Although ABIOVE’s statement does not make it clear which traders are following the association’s decision, most of its members’ logos have been removed<\/a> from the agreement’s official website, including industry giants and multinationals such as ADM, Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus.<\/p>\n\n

\"Silo
Silo in the \u201cRing of Soy\u201d, which holds several farms, storage, processing and distribution centers in the cities of Lu\u00eds Eduardo Magalh\u00e3es, Riach\u00e3o das Neves, Formosa do Rio Preto and Barreiras, Bahia state, in the Cerrado.
\u00a9 Victor Moriyama \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

By choosing to prioritise these tax breaks over their sustainability commitments, these companies are effectively hollowing out a historic shield for the Amazon. While ABIOVE claims that members will continue to monitor their supply chains individually, history shows that voluntary, individual promises rarely match the rigour or ambition of a unified, transparent moratorium.<\/p>\n\n

What is at stake?<\/h2>\n\n

If the Moratorium collapses, the consequences will be global. Without it, producers only have to follow Brazil\u2019s Forest Code, an important piece of legislation which nonetheless allows them to clear forest from 20% of their land – or more in some cases<\/a> – in the Amazon biome. If this happens, estimates suggest we could see a 30% surge in deforestation<\/a> by 2045.<\/p>\n\n

It would also have major implications for businesses and consumers around the world. The Soy Moratorium enabled companies to confidently promise their customers that the soy in their supply chains are free of Amazon deforestation. This is why so many major brands have supported the Soy Moratorium for decades – and why over a dozen leading European supermarket chains including Lidl, Aldi and Tesco recently urged<\/a> members to publicly reaffirm their commitment to the pact.<\/p>\n\n

Scientists warn that the Amazon is already reaching a “tipping point”. If we lose just a few more percentage points of forest cover<\/a>, the entire ecosystem could collapse<\/a> into a dry, fire-prone savannah. This would release billions of tonnes of carbon, making it impossible to meet our global climate targets. There could not be more at stake.<\/p>\n\n

\"Amazon
View from above on a flight from Manaus to Santarem. This is an illegally logged area spanning 1645 hectares which has been logged to plant soy.
\u00a9 Greenpeace \/ Daniel Beltr\u00e1<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Take Action: The World is Watching<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Greenpeace Brasil is already supporting a legal challenge<\/a> against the Mato Grosso law in Brazil\u2019s Supreme Court, arguing that it is unconstitutional to deny tax benefits as a way of punishing those who do more to protect forests. But we also need international pressure. <\/p>\n\n

The vast majority of soy is used as animal feed: that is, it is used to produce the meat on dinner tables around the world. At a time when governments around the world are failing to protect citizens and nature from corporate exploitation, more than ever we need people to speak up. We need to raise our voices and make clear to soy traders and international brands that we won\u2019t accept products linked to the destruction of the world\u2019s largest rainforest.<\/p>\n\n

The Amazon belongs to all of us, not just the agribusiness lobby. Let’s make sure its best defence stays standing.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n \t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\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

Ask political leaders to act on their promises to stop Amazon destruction.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t \n Join the movement\n <\/a>\n \t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t\n

Lis Cunha is a Campaigner with Greenpeace International.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2026 has got off to a terrible start for the Amazon rainforest: the industry group representing the largest soybean traders in Brazil, announced plans to withdraw from the Amazon Soy Moratorium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":73941,"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":[86,149],"p4-page-type":[59],"class_list":["post-80655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature","tag-food","tag-amazon","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80655","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=80655"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80700,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80655\/revisions\/80700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80655"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=80655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}