An international group of 30 non-profit groups, including Global Witness, Rainforest Action and Greenpeace Brasil, published an open letter on Wednesday warning investors considering buying shares in two Brazilian meat giants of their exposure to deforestation. Shares held by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) in JBS and Marfrig – two of the world’s biggest meat companies – will go on sale next year.
The Amazon biome is 84% intact. Despite having peaked after 2012, deforestation rates fell by 72 per cent over the last 15 years. More recently, Brazil has regenerated in the Amazon alone an area larger than Scotland and replanted forests covering an area the size of Wales. Brazil is on track to meet its Paris Agreement nationally determined contribution (NDC).
Since agreeing to export donkey meat and leather to China in July 2017, over 100,000 donkeys have been killed in three slaughterhouses in Bahia, and the state’s goal is to export 200,000 a year – even though, according to official statistics from 2012, Brazil is home to just over 900,000 donkeys. If the slaughter hits the rates sought by China, donkeys could disappear from Brazil in less than five years. China consumes almost five million donkey skins a year – each worth up to £3,000 on the Asian market.
State of Rio de Janeiro records country’s most expensive Gasoline in November, following an increase of 0.59% from October’s price.
In a statement, the Central Bank pointed out that it sees the Brazilian economy gaining ground and that “the recovery will continue at a gradual pace”. The Monetary Policy Committee (COPOM) decided on Wednesday to cut the SELIC by 0.5 percentage point for the fourth consecutive time, bringing interest rates down to 4.5 percent, the lowest basis interest rate in history.
The federal government will pay debts of R$1.815 billion to the United Nations (UN) and the BRICS bank (a group comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) by the end of the year. On the other hand, it will no longer honor commitments to the Latin American Development Bank (CAF), the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IDB Invest), the Financial Fund for the Development of the La Plata Basin (FONPLATA), and the International Development Agency (IDA).
The incorporation of Colombian Almacenes Éxito into the Pão de Açúcar Group (GPA) provides positive results on all fronts said the company’s president Peter Estermann. Over the 12 months up to September, Pão de Açúcar Group (GPA) revenues in Brazil reached R$53 billion; operations in Colombia with the Éxito Group totaled R$18 billion.
