The world is burning, and bankers are fanning the flames by financing
deforestation for soy plantations.
Demand that Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup stop financing
deforestation!
[1]Picture of Amazonian forest burning
[ [link removed] ] SIGN THE PETITION
John,
California, Southern France, Algeria, Greece, Siberia... Our forests are
burning and bankers are fanning the flames by financing the soy industry’s
relentless expansion in the Amazon.
Last February, your mobilization forced France’s biggest bank to reduce
its financing of deforestation -- but one bank’s timid efforts are far
from enough in the face of the emergency.
We need to get the US’s top three banks to quit financing deforestation,
to really give the Amazon and other forests a fighting chance.
This week we have the perfect opportunity to directly address them: one of
the two major biodiversity meetings before the COP26 on climate is
happening right now and it brings together major financial actors and
governments. Let’s show these banks that you refuse to let them reduce our
planet to ashes:
[ [link removed] ]Demand Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup to stop financing
climate chaos!
It’s an emergency. We are reaching the point of no return.
In Brazil alone, Amazon deforestation has increased by 57% this year and
more than half of the Cerrado savanna forest has been torn down to make
way for endless soy plantations.
Soybean traders have no respect for these centuries-old trees or unique
species, even less for Indigenous peoples, who have been persecuted and
forced off their ancestral lands.
Make no mistake, John, it is the banks' financial support that
enables the soy companies to commit these appalling abuses. In just four
years, US banks alone have poured over $1,210 million into the riskiest
activities of the worst soybean traders*.
Their complicity must end now!
[ [link removed] ]Tell Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup to stop financing
the destruction of our precious forests for the sake of our planet.
Between September and December, three important meetings on biodiversity
and climate will take place: the IUCN World Conservation Congress, the UN
Biodiversity Conference COP15 and the UN climate COP26. Decision makers
and financial actors from all over the world will be present and the
saving of our planet will be at the heart of the debate.
John, if enough of us raise our voices now, we can focus on
these banks’ responsibility and push them to change their policies by
excluding destructive projects from their financing.
You can push Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup to stop being
deforestation accomplices, because you’ve done it before! You amongst
other SumOfUs members have already forced giants like PepsiCo and
McDonald's to take responsibility for deforestation.
Will you again take a stand against those who want to destroy our planet
for profit?
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I will add my name to demand that Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase
and Citigroup stop financing the destruction of our precious forests.
[ [link removed] ] SIGN THE PETITION
Thanks for all that you do,
Leyla and the team at SumOfUs
More information:
*[ [link removed] ]Forest&Finance, Data Deep Dive: soybean traders ADM, Bunge, Cargill
and Louis Dreyfus between 2015 and 2019
[ [link removed] ]Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon hits highest annual level in a decade
The Guardian, 20 August 2021
(in French) [ [link removed] ]Soja & deforestation: stop financial actors' complicity
Report from Reclaim Finance, Canopée, SumOfUs, Mighty Earth, October 2020
[ [link removed] ]Feeding the European appetite for soy
Rainforest Foundation Norway, November 2020
[ [link removed] ]Banks urged to combat deforestation and halt biodiversity crisis
The Independent, 12 January 2021
SumOfUs is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy.
Please help keep SumOfUs strong by chipping in $3. [link removed]
