Bunge shareholder vote to disclose deforestation plan

Shareholder resolution passes, urging Bunge to disclose plans to halt deforestation

WASHINGTON, DC Shareholders in agribusiness company Bunge Limited voted today for the company to evaluate and disclose its efforts to eliminate deforestation from its operations. The shareholder vote follows a growing chorus of concern from investors and environmental activists about deforestation, forest fires, and human rights abuses in the company’s soy and palm oil supply chains.

In response, Friends of the Earth Senior Forest and Land Campaigner Gaurav Madan issued the following statement:

The success of this shareholder vote marks an important step toward eliminating environmental destruction and human rights violations from global supply chains. Asset managers have finally recognized that agribusiness-driven deforestation poses significant risks to our economic system and collective future.

To ensure a livable planet for current and future generations, it’s high time for investors, particularly those large asset managers who have made rhetorical climate commitments, to align their portfolios with common sense and science. Ultimately this will require going beyond the proxy vote, to shifting financing away from companies and industries driving climate chaos.

The success of the resolution at Bunge follows an “investor rebellion” at Procter & Gamble in October 2020, where a majority of the world’s largest investors voted in favor of tackling deforestation in industrial agricultural commodity supply chains.

Contact: Kaela Bamberger, [email protected], 202-222-0703

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