2024-04-12 05:53:01
An investigation carried out by the British non-governmental organization (NGO) Earthsight associated multinationals Zara and H&M, popular clothing brands, with illegal deforestation, land appropriation, violence and corruption in Brazil. At the same time, these brands will have used contaminated cotton in the manufacture of their clothes, which has been certified as sustainable.
The investigation released this Thursday analyzes the great development of Brazilian cotton production, for export, and follows the fate of more than 800 thousand tons of this cotton, contaminated but certified, to companies in Asia, where it is transformed into clothing items for brands to sell later, especially in Europe.
Earthsight uses in-depth research to expose environmental and social crimes, injustices and links to global consumption. In the extensive work that Lusa had access to, the organization reveals that it spent more than a year analyzing satellite images, court decisions, shipping records, and going undercover to global trade fairs to locate and track this cotton.
Produced in the Brazilian Cerrado by two large companies (which denied any illegality), the cotton was sold between 2014 and 2023 to eight clothing manufacturers in countries such as Indonesia, Pakistan or Bangladesh, suppliers of Zara and H&M. The cotton farms in question, the investigation says, have a long history of lawsuits, cases of corruption, illegal deforestation of 100,000 hectares of land and misappropriation of land in the Cerrado, a region that covers a quarter of Brazil and is home to 5 % of all species in the world, including armadillos and anteaters.
According to published data, more than half of the Cerrado was deforested for large-scale agriculture, particularly for cotton, making hundreds of species on the verge of extinction due to the loss of habitats. “Every year, billions of liters of fresh water are diverted to cotton fields, which are soaked with 600 million liters of the most poisonous pesticides”, says the NGO, which leaves yet another complaint about cotton certification.
Company that owns the “Better Cotton” seal opens investigation
According to Earthsight, all contaminated cotton was certified as sustainable by “Better Cotton”, an entity that claims to be the largest cotton sustainability program in the world and whose mission is to help communities prosper by protecting and restoring the environment.
Earthsight says that the majority of H&M and Zara products are made with cotton labeled “Better Cotton,” a company based in Geneva and London that has in the past been accused of greenwashing (dissemination of false sustainable practices through ‘marketing’ actions), secrecy and non-compliance with the protection of human rights. Faced with Earthsight’s accusations, “Better Cotton” said it had opened an investigation.
H&M responded to the NGO that it was identifying with “Better Cotton” needs to improve the certification process, and Zara acknowledged that it worked with the Pakistani companies mentioned, but said that they denied purchasing cotton directly from any producer in Brazil . And he also confirmed that “Better Cotton” had launched an investigation.
Businesses and consumers in Europe and North America are driving deforestation, land invasion and human rights violations in a new way, “not by what they eat, but by what they wear,” says Earthsight, which notes that neither H&M nor Zara buy cotton directly from producers.
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But even so, the director of Earthsight, Sam Lawson, leaves a warning: “If you have cotton clothing, towels or sheets from H&M or Zara, it is quite possible that they are stained by the looting of the Cerrado. These companies talk about good practices, social responsibility and certification systems, they claim to invest in traceability and sustainability, but all of this now seems as false as the arrangements in their windows”.
In 2030, Brazil is expected to surpass the United States as the largest cotton exporter in the world, according to the document. This growth of cotton also led to the decline of traditional communities. Earthsight speaks of a “ruinous mix of corruption, greed, violence and impunity” that has led to the diversion of public lands and the seizure of land from local communities, who are subject to intimidation and cattle rustling. Brazilian farmers have already denied all accusations.
The association also recalls that there are several laws to regulate supply chains, and European Union regulations on sustainability and deforestation that do not cover cotton. And he even considers that the biggest culprits of the situation are the largest consumer markets. The European Union is the largest clothing importer in the world, followed by the United States.
2024-04-12 05:53:01