Friends Fiduciary Encourages Companies To Eliminate Deforestation In Their Soybean Supply Chains

July 10, 2019

Friends Fiduciary joined 56 other investors with assets under management totaling approximately US $6.3 trillion in signing a letter encouraging companies to take an active role in eliminating deforestation from their soybean supply chains.

Soybean growth and harvesting in South America has been responsible for widespread deforestation. In Brazil alone, roughly 21,000 acres of forest have been cleared for soybean production, according to Brazilian government sources. Deforestation of this land has released carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, damaged local aquifers, and hurt regional biodiversity.

Companies who are proactive in managing emissions in their supply chains will be better prepared for success in a low-carbon economy. To this end, Friends Fiduciary expects companies to take the appropriate steps to eliminating deforestation in their soybean supply chain. Some of these steps include oversight of board level deforestation policies, publication of the processes to manage deforestation risk, and public disclosure of the percentage of soy sourced from suppliers in compliance with the company’s deforestation policies.

Read the letter here.