BNP Paribas and Carrefour are under indictment in France for failing to perform due diligence-that is, due diligence on human rights and environmental (ESG) compliance. Environmental, Social and Governance)-in financing and buying Brazilian meat, from operators responsible for land grabbing and deforestation in the Amazon and Cerrado. As well as greenwashing.
1) Manfrig, land grabbing and deforestation in Brazil.
Land robbery (land grabbing ) is perpetrated against indigenous peoples with murder and brutal violence. And deforestation follows, to prepare areas for cattle grazing and GMO soy monocultures.
120 thousand hectares of land (1,200 km2, accounting for 76% of the Province of Milan) have been the subject of illegal deforestation – in the Amazon and Cerrado, between 2009 and 2020 – by the Manfrig Group and/or its suppliers, according to data and findings from the Center for Climate Crime Analysis.
2) Manfrig and BNP Paribas, ESG and due diligence.
Brazil’s successive governments in recent years, from Michael Temer to Jair Bolsonaro, have consistently supported the beef industry giants and ruralistas. Who in fact represent the ‘hard core’ of their voter base.
The nonprofits Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT, Brazil), Notre Affaire À Tous (NAAT, France), and Rainforest Action Network (U.S.) have therefore turned the charge, in France, to BNP Paribas. For failing to supervise with due diligence the serious violations of basic human rights and the environment in financing the Manfrig Group. (1)
3) BNP Paribas and greenwashing.
BNP Paribas’ greenwashing is also denounced by students atUniversité Paris Sciences et Lettres. Who appealed to the court to obtain access to the text of an agreement in which:
– BNP Paribas, the world’s 10th largest bank for fossil fuel investments, is funding a graduate course in ecology ( ‘School of Positive Impact‘ training program) with nearly €8 million, (2)
– the parties are bound by a ‘non-denigration clause‘. BNP has thus is paid for a prestigious university’s silence on the dark side of its financial operations.
Adherence to the protests of faculty and researchers led to the revision of the clause from ‘non-denigration’ to a commitment not to harm the image of the patron. (3)
4) France, the Loi de Vigilance (2017)
The Loi de Vig ilance(Duty of Vigilance Act), introduced in France in 2017, requires all large French companies (>5,000 employees in France or >10,000 internationally) to undertake due diligence with respect to the companies they control, all their contractors and suppliers. The law is based on two principles:
– a ‘civic duty of vigilance‘ aimed at preventing risks and serious abuses of fundamental rights, health, personal safety and the environment in connection with their business activities,
– a ‘redress and accountability mechanism‘ for companies’ violations of these obligations. As has already been required of the large retail giant Group Casino, again because of Brazilian meats. (4)
5) Brazilian meats and due diligence. The precedent of Group Casino
Indigenous communities have dragged Group Casino to court-in Paris, in 2021-with a claim for 3.2 million euros in damages. For failure to do due diligence on the land robbery and deforestation of more than 50,000 hectares (between 2008 and 2020) that a Center for Climate Crime Analysis (CCCA) report attributes to its Brazilian meat supplier JBS.
The responsibility of retailer French thus derives from having marketed-through its supermarket chains Pão de Açúcar and Éxito, which together account for 47% of the revenue of Group Casino – to buy their meat from JBS, the meat giant whose production is linked to deforestation and slave labor in Brazil. (5)
6) Carrefour, due diligence and Brazilian meats.
Carrefour is in turn accused of marketing Brazilian meat from the giant JBS-the world’s leading beef producer-that is derived from areas subject to recent deforestation. The Mighty Earth organization identified 12 references of meat, on the shelves of Carrefour supermarkets in Brazil, coming from two JBS slaughterhouses in Rondônia state, linked to land robbery of the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau indigenous community and illegal deforestation, in the Amazon.
Mighty Earth published in September 2022 a report, ‘Carrefour nous enfume,’ where it blamed the French retailer for 4.5 percent of deforestation in the Amazon. (6) In the face of demand for Brazilian JBS meat and GMO soybeans (Bunge, Cargill) destined forexport of unsustainable feed materials. The association therefore calls on Carrefour to adopt and implement a clear ‘zero deforestation, zero conversion‘ policy that improves transparency and traceability of the entire meat and soybean supply chain with immediate effect.
7) Deforestation-free, European perspective
On 17.11.21, the European Commission adopted a proposal for an EU regulation to impose due diligence on the five most socio-environmentally critical food and agricultural supply chains. Palm oil, soybean, cocoa, coffee, beef, and timber. (7)
Downstream operators in the aforementioned supply chains will need to ensure that products imported into the domestic market are ‘deforestation-free,’ including through traceability and geolocation of the land of origin.
On 9/13/22 the European Parliament, in its first reading, called for the extension of the rules to pork, sheep and goat meat, poultry, corn, rubber, charcoal and printed paper. As well as extending responsibilities to financial institutions. (8)
8) Due diligence, European perspective
Then on 23.2.22 the European Commission adopted a proposal for a directive on ESG(Environment, Social, Governance) due diligence, aimed at ensuring the social and environmental sustainability of large companies operating in the EU. Which should integrate due diligence into all company policies, implement it through risk analysis and mitigation, and publish periodic reports. (9)
The scope of the directive is extended to all high-impact production sectors. Textiles, leather and related products; agriculture and animal husbandry (including live animals), forestry and timber, fisheries and aquaculture, food; mineral resources, basic and intermediate mineral products, metals (excluding equipment).
9) Corporate Sustainability Reporting, ESG
On 10.11.22 the European Parliament overwhelmingly approved the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), reforming the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD, dir. 2014/95/EU. See notes 10,11). The new CSR directive extends the requirement for companies of all sizes-including SMEs-between 2024 and 2028 to include a report on compliance with human and personnel rights, environment, and anti-corruption in their financial statements.
Then, on 1.1.23, reg. EU 2022/1288 supplementing EU Reg 2019/288 on sustainability reporting in the financial services sector. Participants in these markets must in turn describe the main negative effects of activities targeted for investment on climate, personnel, human rights compliance, and anti-corruption. (12)
The circle tightens.
Dario Dongo and Alessandra Mei
Cover image taken from Carrefour’s smokescreen report by Mighty Earth (see footnote 6)
Notes
(1) M. Golla, A. Husson-Traore. BNP Paribas attaquée sur la déforestation par son devoir de vigilance. Novethic. 21.10.22. https://www.novethic.fr/actualite/economie/isr-rse/bnp-paribas-premiere-banque-mise-en-cause-pour-non-respect-de-son-devoir-de-vigilance-151132.html
(2) Banking on climate chaos. 2022 Report. https://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org//wp-content/themes/bocc-2021/inc/bcc-data-2022/BOCC_2022_vSPREAD.pdf
(3) P. Jequier-Zalc, Un diplôme d’excellence ” pour un monde durable ” financé principalement par la BNP, grand argentier des pétroliers. Enough! 20.07.22 https://basta.media/un-diplome-d-excellence-pour-un-monde-durable-finance-principalement-par-la-bnp
(4) Dario Dongo, Elena Bosani. Brazilian meat from deforestation, Groupe Casino sued in France. FT (Food Times). 18.7.21
(5) Center for Climate Crime Analysis. Fighting illegal deforestation and its drivers in Brazil. https://climatecrimeanalysis.org/project/fighting-illegal-deforestation-and-its-drivers-in-brazil/
(6) Mighty Earth (2022). Carrefour’s smokescreen https://www.mightyearth.org/wp-content/uploads/202210_Meat_Carrefour_Report_EN.pdf
(7) Dario Dongo, Elena Bosani. Due diligence and deforestation, stop unsustainable imports of commodities. Proposed EU regulation, the ABC. FT (Food Times). 6.3.22
(8) Climate change: new rules for companies to help limit global deforestation. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20220909IPR40140/climate-change-new-rules-for-companies-to-help-limit-global-deforestation European Parliament. Press release, 13.9.22
(9) Dario Dongo, Elena Bosani. Due diligence to ESG, corporate social and environmental sustainability, the proposed EU directive. FT (Food Times). 20.4.22
(10) Dario Dongo. Sustainability reporting, ESG and due diligence. FT (Food Times). 18.7.22
(11) Sustainable economy: Parliament adopts new reporting rules for multinationals. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20221107IPR49611/sustainable-economy-parliament-adopts-new-reporting-rules-for-multinationals
European Parliament. Press release, 10.11.22
(12) Dario Dongo, Elena Bosani. Sustainability budgets and responsible investment, ESG and CSR due diligence. Reg. EU 2022/1288. FT (Food Times). 29.7.22
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Graduated in Law from the University of Bologna, she attended the Master in Food Law at the same University. You participate in the WIISE srl benefit team by dedicating yourself to European and international research and innovation projects.
