Agriculture and food

Profundo calculated the earnings for investors and creditors generated through their investments in and financial services to deforestation-risk companies in the Forests & Finance (F&F) database

Forests & Finance assesses the finance received by over 300 companies directly involved in the beef, soy, palm oil, pulp and paper, rubber and timber supply chains, whose operations may impact natural tropical forests and the communities that rely on them in Southeast Asia, Central and West Africa, and parts of South America. Profundo has updated the financing data for these companies.

Indonesia is among the world’s largest mining countries. It is also a country of conglomerate companies with interests in various businesses, including deforestation-related sectors such as oil palm, industrial trees and mining. This report shows there is a substantial overlap in company groups conducting mining and/or palm oil businesses that come with large environmental and social risks.

For this project, commissioned by CDP, Profundo has researched Chinese financing of palm oil.

This research project aims to inform the strategic development of the new CNV Internationaal programme and on developing lobby activities in its current programme in relation to the sugar sector, by identifying market dynamics, key actors, financiers, price setting, and social and environmental issues in a selection of producing countries. Geographically, the research focusses on five in Latin American countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Peru) and three countries in Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, and Vietnam).

The palm oil value chain contains a number of stakeholder groups, such as smallholders, large plantations, refineries, the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry, the oleochemical and pharmaceutical industry, and the retail and food service sector. In every step of the chain, palm oil is further processed or is embedded in products which contain other ingredients, like hazelnut pasta or shampoo. Transparency on the distribution of financial benefits producing and processing palm oil is crucial. Transparency could enable stakeholders' discussions on the fairness of costs and expenses related to ESG and zero-deforestation policies, the cost of re-forestation/restoration, monitoring, and verification.

This report, commissioned by the Dutch Fair Bank Guide, investigates the role that banks can play in the transition towards a food system less dependent on animal protein and more based on plant-based and alternative sources of protein. It draws on the recent literature and expert interviews to identify key possibilities and barriers, as well as the steps that banks could take to advance the protein transition.

This analysis supports Global Strategic Climate Communications’s digital and media campaign to influence the main meatpackers (JBS, Marfrig and Minerva) during Brazil’s summer fire season to adopt stronger policies to reduce forest destruction in the Amazon.

Malaysia is the world’s second largest palm oil producer, after Indonesia. Peninsular Malaysia accounts for more than 12 percent of world production and produces approximately half of Malaysia’s palm oil. It also hosts a large number of forests rich in biodiversity and large carbon stock. How are Peninsular Malaysia’s forests protected from more deforestation for oil palm? What more can main corporate players in the palm oil supply chain do to stop deforestation? This report sheds a light on deforestation monitoring in Peninsular Malaysia.

Research about the feasibility of developing successful partnerships in the region to improve working conditions and labour rights in the palm oil sector.