The minute
- Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) ruled the Amazon Soy Moratorium is constitutional, ending lawsuits seeking compensation over it
- The same ruling upheld state laws in Mato Grosso and Rondônia that deny tax benefits to companies that sign the moratorium
- A study cited in coverage of the ruling estimates the practical effect ends the moratorium as of 2024, putting more than 13 million hectares of Amazon vegetation at risk of conversion to agriculture
Why it matters: The Soy Moratorium has been one of the most cited voluntary supply-chain deforestation agreements globally; a ruling that keeps it legal on paper while letting states penalize signatories removes much of its practical enforcement power.
The decision illustrates a broader tension in Brazil between federal environmental commitments and state-level agribusiness incentives, a dynamic that also shapes how credibly companies can claim deforestation-free soy sourcing going forward. via ClimaInfo