Intersectional Environmental Justice in Dutch-Brazilian Beef and Soy Trade: Challenges for the EU Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products

Abstract

Intensive agricultural trade is associated with environmental injustice, affecting marginalised populations while depleting forests, rivers and biodiversity. Brazil is the leading soy exporter globally, while the Netherlands is the main soy importer in the EU. This bilateral soy trade is connected to forest degradation, rising emissions, and pesticide pollution. Similarly, international beef trade connects the Netherlands with deforestation and land conflicts in Brazil. In 2023, the EU approved the Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR) to tackle biodiversity loss and forest degradation, to decouple agricultural imports from deforestation in producing countries. However, civil society organisations claim that the EUDR overlooks the underlying drivers of environmental injustice, for humans and non-humans. For example, land tenure conflicts between local communities and large soy farmers (whose growing use of land is influenced by international trade markets), and the financial stakeholders linked to activities leading to forest loss and land dispossession. In this article, we assess the Dutch-Brazilian beef and soy trade through the lenses of intersectional environmental justice (IEJ) and suggest how to improve the EUDR in light of the findings. Intersectionality helps us identify injustices, the drivers and associated actors. Yet, no previous study has mapped intersectional environmental injustices in these supply chains. Our data includes 20 semi-structured interviews with environmental NGOs, businesses, government and academics from both countries, besides secondary sources (15 NGO reports and policy papers). Our recommendations include amendments to be incorporated into the existing version of the EUDR. Specifically, geolocation tools that help businesses track not only deforestation risks, but also intersectional injustices and human rights threats along soy and beef supply chains. And, more broadly, measures to track risks associated with pollution, land dispossession, hunger, health and the impacts of infrastructures on IPLCs. The article contributes to the Commons literature by providing empirical evidence on the interconnections between forests loss, commodity trade and human rights abuses, supporting a diagnosis of the necessary transformations that can positively impact biodiversity in social-ecological systems in both countries.