Financial Speculation Drives Massive Land Grabbing, Deforestation in Brazil’s Cerrado

New report shows international financial corporations fuel environmental destruction and displacement of traditional agrarian communities in world’s most biodiverse savannah

WASHINGTON — International speculation in farmland is contributing to a land grabbing crisis in Brazil’s Cerrado savannah, fueling record deforestation and displacing indigenous and traditional agrarian communities, according to a new report released November 19 as COP30, the United Nations Convention on Climate Change draws to a close in the Brazilian city of Belem.   

The report, “Under the Radar: How Land Speculation Enables the Destruction of the Brazilian Cerrado” produced by Friends of the Earth U.S., the Network for Social Justice and Human Rights in Brazil, ActionAid USA and AidEnvironment, shows how foreign financial corporations play a key role in converting one of the world’s most critical ecosystems into soy plantations with devastating consequences for local communities, global biodiversity, and climate stability.   

“This report shows how financial corporations linked to agribusiness are fueling a crisis that is destroying the Cerrado in Brazil,” said Fabio Pitta, a coordinator at the Network for Social Justice and Human Rights in Brazil. “Financial speculation is the engine driving land grabbing and ecocide in this globally important ecosystem.”  

The Cerrado, a vast tropical savannah roughly the size of Western Europe, is home to 5% of the world’s plant and animal species and serves as the headwaters for some of South America’s most important rivers. Its deep root systems store massive amounts of carbon, making it essential for global climate regulation. Yet more than half of the Cerrado’s native vegetation has already been destroyed, and the crisis is accelerating.  

The report details how U.S. retirement fund TIAA, through its Brazilian subsidiary, Radar, owns land more than six times the size of Manhattan in a region of Brazil’s Bahia State known for rural conflict, deforestation and land grabbing. Most of this land has been deforested of native vegetation for the expansion of soy plantations. Claiming management of 3 million acres of farmland in 11 countries, TIAA subsidiary Nuveen Natural Capital has been named the seventh largest transnational landlord in the world – a dubious distinction in a time of extreme inequality.   

“It’s well known that agribusiness is the main cause of forest destruction in the Global South,” said Jeff Conant of Friends of the Earth. “Less well-known is the role of financial companies in fueling the destruction. No one’s retirement fund should cause land grabbing and ecocide.”  

Doug Hertzler of ActionAid USA said, “As the UNFCCC wraps up its COP 30 in Brazil, it is crucial to understands that investor land speculation expands an industrial food system that is second only to the fossil fuel industry in greenhouse gas emissions. It takes land away from communities who could manage forests and grow food in ways that are far better for the climate and for feeding communities.” 

While previous research published by Friends of the Earth has shown how multinational interests,  including TIAA and the Harvard University endowment, have exploited farmland as a financial asset and promoted the expansion of soy plantations in other parts of the Cerrado, the new report is the first to expose this dynamic in western Bahia state, which faces some of the highest rates of deforestation in Brazil.  

The Cerrado is home to Indigenous, quilombola (rural Afro-Brazilian), and peasant communities who possess valuable knowledge of this unique biome and protect its biodiversity through traditional cultural practices. These communities also hold legally protected land rights under Brazilian law and numerous United Nations conventions —  rights that are being violated as financial speculation drives land grabbing.  

The report calls for government regulations to prevent such violations. Investigations in Brazil by reporters and civil society organizations have raised questions about whether TIAA’s complex corporate structure allows the company to evade Brazil’s foreign land ownership laws, though no legal charges have been made. A new subsidiary, formed in 2024, is taking over TIAA’s Brazilian landholdings and appears positioned for further expansion.  

TIAA has been scrutinized for over a decade for links to forest destruction and alleged land rights violations in Brazil. The company published its “no deforestation” policy in 2018, after its lands were already almost completely deforested, the report finds. Data  published by the Forest&Finance Coalition earlier this month shows that TIAA’s equity holdings in “forest-risk commodities” — beef, palm oil, soy, paper, rubber and timber — increased from $91 million in 2018 to $235 million today.  

The TIAA case shows how financial corporations contribute to the deepening climate and biodiversity crisis by using the funds of millions of people — in this case, American workers with TIAA retirement accounts — to drive environmental destruction thousands of miles away. This also represents a risk for TIAA clients because the expansion of soy plantations demands large amounts of water and chemical inputs, polluting the land and depleting water sources.  

“The Brazilian and U.S. governments have a responsibility to hold companies accountable for deforestation, increased greenhouse gas emissions, land grabbing, and human rights violations,” the report states. “Without urgent action, financial speculation will continue to drive the destruction of one of the planet’s most important ecosystems.”  

The Portuguese report can be found here.

Communications contact: Lindsay Tice, (202) 783-7400 ext. 8403