Forests are often destroyed to make way for agribusiness, to produce everyday products such as beef, palm oil and rubber. Plantations of palm oil and rubber absorb nowhere near as much carbon as the forests they replace and have very little biodiversity, while the impacts of cattle farming are well-known. Hundreds of agribusiness companies promised to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains by 2020. However, many are already admitting that they will not meet their targets. If governments are serious about the climate crisis they must take action to keep climate-critical forests standing, by tackling the role of finance in global forest destruction. Barclays, HSBC and Santander among high street names behind companies implicated in rainforest destruction. Iconic investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley also among key financiers. Between 2013 and 2019, they were backed to the tune of $44 billion by over 300 investment firms, banks, and pension funds headquartered across the globe. The world’s largest financial institutions continue to sink vast sums into companies either levelling forests themselves or via other companies, often in blatant violation of their own deforestation policies and public commitments.
Consider this question: "We need to get the common man onboard, otherwise the environment is doomed." How far do you agree with this statement?
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