“British supermarkets threaten Brazil boycott over proposed forest law. British supermarkets have warned Brazil they might have to boycott its products if lawmakers there pass a contentious bill that could enable faster destruction of the Amazon rainforest.”, 19 May 2020

Sainsbury's, Tesco, Morrisons and Marks & Spencer were among more than 40 companies to sign an open letter here urging Brazil's national legislature to reject the proposed bill, backed by President Jair Bolsonaro. The letter said the law would encourage “further land grabbing and widespread deforestation” which would endanger the survival of the Amazon, the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, and the rights of indigenous communities. “We believe that it would also put at risk the ability of organisations such as ours to continue sourcing from Brazil in the future,” the letter said…The proposal before Congress – known as “land regularization” by the agriculture lobby and “the land speculation law” by environmentalists – will make it easier for those that settled on public land historically to obtain deeds for their properties, under certain circumstances…Environmentalists say the bill would effectively reward land speculators for massive illegal deforestation carried out in the past, while opening the floodgates to further clearing and settlement of public forest land... signatories to the letter, which included agribusiness companies and investors such as Sweden’s AP7 pension fund and Norwegian insurer Storebrand, said they were “deeply concerned” about the proposed bill...