Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany’s international broadcaster, investigated controveries surrounding Suzano, Latin America’s biggest eucalyptus pulp producer. DW investigated eight ongoing socio-environmental conflicts on the ground in Brazil and spoke to officials, community leaders and union representatives who gave information on at least 40 more.

The June 22, 2023 article Greenwashing concerns: Is Brazil paper company sustainable? can be read in its entireity on the Deutsche Welle (DW) website.

Some key facts from the article are included below

Monitoring:

• Suzano  manages over a million hectares of eucalyptus plantations across Brazil and plans to almost double that in the next decade.
• The company has succeeded in achieving high environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings and has attracted billions in green bonds despite accusations it is directly responsible for harm to forests and local communities.
• Claims against the company range from indiscriminate use of pesticides and pollution of waterways to land grabbing and failure to consult with traditional communities on infrastructure projects.
• Ward Warmerdam, a senior financial researcher at Profundo, a Netherlands-based NGO that analyzes sustainability in international commodity supply chains, said “All the financial institutions that are developing policies are doing so on a voluntary basis, which means there are no standards, there are no regulations, there is no monitoring of this.

Financing:

• Suzano has received billions from big players including French banking group Credit Agricole, the Government Pension Fund of Norway and the Netherlands’ pension fund, Dutch Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn. A spokesperson for Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijntold DW that they would “continue to engage regularly directly with the company to understand these allegations.” They added that the outcome of that engagement “could eventually lead to divestment.”
• Late last year, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private arm of the World Bank, approved a $600 million in loans to Suzano to build a new pulp mill project in the south-eastern state of Mato Grosso do Sul.