From pastures to plates: The thorny path to achieving deforestation-free cattle from Brazil to European consumers

IF 6.6 2区经济学 Q1 ECOLOGY

Ecological Economics Pub Date : 2025-01-16 DOI:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108524

Matías Vaccarezza Sevilla , Gino Pedreira Lucchese , Torsten Krause , Gisele Garcia Alarcon

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The EU regulation on Deforestation-Free Products (EUDR) enacted in 2023 aims to reduce deforestation connected to commodities imported to the EU, including cattle products. In Brazil, the EUDR pressures the local cattle supply chain towards more sustainable production. However, the potential effects of the EUDR on reducing deforestation in this sector are unclear and require scrutiny. Drawing on the concept of Telecoupling, we investigate the challenges and potential impacts of implementing the EUDR in the Brazilian cattle supply chain. We interviewed 19 Brazilian stakeholders representing the private sector, NGOs, investigative journals, banks, and governmental institutions through semi-structured questionnaires complemented with secondary data analysis. Our findings reveal the extent to which historical challenges, such as the lack of law enforcement and low productivity persist, and the possible spillover effects, including market and production leakages. Additionally, the study shows how the EUDR may lead to potential negative impacts for small-scale ranchers. We highlight the need to implement a transparent and integrated public birth-to-slaughter traceability system for cattle in Brazil to guarantee the EUDR's effectiveness. If European and Brazilian governments, cattle producers, and meatpacking companies are not able to address these issues, EUDR's objective to reduce deforestation will be difficult to achieve.

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从牧场到盘子：从巴西到欧洲消费者实现无森林砍伐的牛的荆棘之路

欧盟于2023年颁布的《无森林砍伐产品条例》（EUDR）旨在减少与进口到欧盟的商品（包括牛产品）相关的森林砍伐。在巴西，EUDR向当地牛供应链施加压力，使其朝着更可持续的生产方向发展。然而，EUDR对减少该部门森林砍伐的潜在影响尚不清楚，需要仔细审查。根据远耦合的概念，我们研究了在巴西牛供应链中实施EUDR的挑战和潜在影响。我们通过半结构化问卷和辅助数据分析，采访了19位巴西利益相关者，他们代表了私营部门、非政府组织、调查期刊、银行和政府机构。我们的研究结果揭示了历史挑战的持续程度，如缺乏执法和低生产率，以及可能的溢出效应，包括市场和生产泄漏。此外，该研究还显示了EUDR如何对小规模牧场主产生潜在的负面影响。我们强调需要在巴西实施一个透明和综合的公共牛从出生到屠宰可追溯系统，以保证EUDR的有效性。如果欧洲和巴西政府、牛生产者和肉类加工企业不能解决这些问题，EUDR减少森林砍伐的目标将难以实现。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Ecological Economics 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

12.00

自引率

5.70%

发文量

313

审稿时长

6 months

期刊介绍： Ecological Economics is concerned with extending and integrating the understanding of the interfaces and interplay between "nature''s household" (ecosystems) and "humanity''s household" (the economy). Ecological economics is an interdisciplinary field defined by a set of concrete problems or challenges related to governing economic activity in a way that promotes human well-being, sustainability, and justice. The journal thus emphasizes critical work that draws on and integrates elements of ecological science, economics, and the analysis of values, behaviors, cultural practices, institutional structures, and societal dynamics. The journal is transdisciplinary in spirit and methodologically open, drawing on the insights offered by a variety of intellectual traditions, and appealing to a diverse readership. Specific research areas covered include: valuation of natural resources, sustainable agriculture and development, ecologically integrated technology, integrated ecologic-economic modelling at scales from local to regional to global, implications of thermodynamics for economics and ecology, renewable resource management and conservation, critical assessments of the basic assumptions underlying current economic and ecological paradigms and the implications of alternative assumptions, economic and ecological consequences of genetically engineered organisms, and gene pool inventory and management, alternative principles for valuing natural wealth, integrating natural resources and environmental services into national income and wealth accounts, methods of implementing efficient environmental policies, case studies of economic-ecologic conflict or harmony, etc. New issues in this area are rapidly emerging and will find a ready forum in Ecological Economics.