Multistakeholder meetings on soy and cattle in Brazil

From November 4 to 6, 2024, the Tropical Forest Alliance, Proforest and the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) Forest Positive Coalition of Action (FPCoA), hosted for the second time the Multistakeholder Meetings on Soy and Cattle in Brazil, a series of meetings focused on the opportunity for a sustainable transition of the soy and cattle sectors in Brazil.

The Meetings brought together local and international stakeholders who are contributing directly and indirectly to the climate and nature goals of Brazil's cattle and soy supply chains in various production landscapes.

More than 80 representatives from multinational companies operating in the soy and livestock supply chains, the Brazilian government, international governments, exporters, philanthropy, financial institutions and civil society participated in discussions on the latest policy and practice developments in Brazil, shared updates on collective progress and reflected on common challenges and opportunities to strengthen collaborations for the sustainable transition of the soy and cattle sectors in critical biomes and landscapes.

Through a series of plenary sessions and more reserved ones with specific actors, the participants engaged in critical conversations, shared the progress made in the last 12 months and signalled new and recurring barriers that still need to be overcome to achieve common goals.

2025 will be a pivotal year, and before entering it, the Meetings offered an opportunity to reflect on how different stakeholders can collaborate to fit different pieces of the puzzle together to achieve the goals set out.

Since the meetings, many important developments have taken place in Brazil and other countries, which will enable progress towards deforestation- and conversion-free supply chains and sustainable land use.

· The implementation of the EUDR has been confirmed with a 12-month delay, but the core of the regulation has not changed [Link]

· On 17 December 2024, Brazil launched its National Bovine Identification and Traceability Plan PNIB - 2025-2032 [Link in Portuguese]

· On 19 December 2024, Brazil launched the Agro Brasil + Sustentável Platform, a tool developed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA), which will provide organised, traceable and reliable information on sustainable agricultural production, as a strategic alternative for producers to meet the demands of the European and other markets. 

According to Cecilia Korber Gonçalves, Principal Manager at Proforest, these recent events are extremely important for Brazilian production supply chains. In Brazil, there is a clear signal from the current government to meet the demands of producers, the market and the society to increase transparency in the value chain, helping to reduce risks and costs and increasing the visibility of sustainable agricultural production. In the international market, we are also seeing the positive results of the effort in dialogues on the implementation of the EUDR. ‘We know that it will take time for the entire soy and cattle chain to see the benefits of these advances, but we will continue to accompany and support Brazilian chains to act in a socio-environmentally responsible manner and expand their participation in international markets.’

A lot is still being defined and we look forward to seeing the Brazil's direction towards COP30, which will be an important moment to showcase the progress made through multistakeholder collaboration - from corporate leadership to civil society implementation to government's guidance.

Read the full event report (PDF) and watch the video that captures the spirit of the meetings.