Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Agriculture, livestock and food · Brazil · 2018

Cargill IBAMA fine (Brazil)

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 1 not measured · 1 unclear See the gaps

In May 2018 Brazil's environment agency IBAMA announced a fine of R$5,000,000 on Cargill Agrícola for buying soy from areas IBAMA had embargoed in the Cerrado. Cargill is also a listed corporate partner of WWF-US.

R$5,000,000IBAMA fine on Cargill Agrícola for buying soy from embargoed Cerrado areas
As reported by the press citing IBAMA; IBAMA's own announcement was not found.

Status As of the latest source, March 2022: the 2018 fine was reported as imposed; no appeal, payment or company response found.

What?
IBAMA fined Cargill Agrícola R$5,000,000 for buying soy from areas IBAMA had embargoed in the Cerrado.
Where?
Cerrado, Balsas, Maranhão, Brazil.
When?
Announced 23 May 2018.
Who?
Gained
  • WWF-US — Listed Cargill, Inc. as a corporate partner at $500,000–$1 million (FY21 report) WWF-US
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Buying soy from IBAMA-embargoed areas.
How?
Operação Shoyo, an IBAMA operation.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

On 23 May 2018 Brazil's environment agency IBAMA announced Operação Shoyo (Operation Shoyo). Cargill Agrícola was fined R$5,000,000 for buying soy from areas that IBAMA had embargoed in the Cerrado, around Balsas in Maranhão.

The fine was reported by Canal Rural, FeedNavigator and Greenpeace, citing IBAMA. IBAMA's original announcement on its government website was not found.

WWF-US's FY21 Corporate Partnerships Report (March 2022) listed Cargill, Inc. as a corporate partner in the $500,000–$1 million range. The report said Cargill and WWF were working together on sustainable seafood sourcing, responsible poultry production and climate commitments. Corporate income was 3% of WWF-US total income.

  1. 201823 May: IBAMA announces Operação Shoyo; Cargill Agrícola fined R$5,000,000 for buying soy from embargoed Cerrado areas
  2. 2022March: WWF-US FY21 Corporate Partnerships Report lists Cargill, Inc. at $500,000–$1 million

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“Cargill and WWF are working together on sustainable seafood sourcing, responsible poultry production, climate commitments…”

WWF-US, FY21 Corporate Partnerships Report · March 2022 · WWF-US

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • Cargill and WWF-US described as working together on sustainable seafood sourcing, responsible poultry production and climate commitments.
    WWF-US · WWF-US

Recorded

  • IBAMA, Operação Shoyo, announced 23 May 2018: Cargill Agrícola fined R$5,000,000 for buying soy from IBAMA-embargoed areas in the Cerrado (Balsas, Maranhão). Reported by Canal Rural, FeedNavigator and Greenpeace, citing IBAMA.
  • WWF-US FY21 Corporate Partnerships Report: Cargill, Inc., $500,000–$1 million; corporate income was 3% of WWF-US total income.
    WWF-US

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: · Window: . All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • wwf-us (March 2022): Cargill and WWF are working together on sustainable seafood sourcing, responsible poultry production, climate commitments… · WWF-US

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2018-05-23–Outcome not on recordBRL 5000bn Fine
    Operação Shoyo: IBAMA fine on Cargill Agrícola
    IBAMA (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) · Administrative · IBAMA → Cargill Agrícola

    IBAMA fined Cargill Agrícola R$5,000,000 for buying soy from IBAMA-embargoed areas in the Cerrado (Balsas, Maranhão). The outcome of any appeal and whether the fine was paid were not found.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No court caseNo independent ecological evaluation

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.

Court

  • Unclear Operação Shoyo: IBAMA fine on Cargill Agrícola: outcome not on record.

Record

  • None on record IBAMA's original announcement of the fine was not found; the fine is known from press reports citing IBAMA.

Did the harm stop?

Not stated in the sources reviewed.

Who paid?

Not stated in the sources reviewed.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

Communities and civil society

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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