H&M and Zara, accused of being “connected” to large-scale illegal deforestation in Brazil

The British NGO Earthsight blamed textile companies in a report H&M e Zara being “tied” to large-scale illegal deforestation activities in Brazil, to land grabbing, corruption and violence on their subcontractors’ cotton plantations.

Using satellite imagery, court decisions, product shipping records, and confidential research, Earthsight data collected and analyzed published Thursday in a report: “Fashion Crimes: European Fashion Giants Linked to Dirty Cotton in Brazil.”

The cotton route, from the forest to the shops

The NGO says it has followed up the journey of 816,000 tons of cotton coming from two of the largest agroindustrial companies in Brazil – SLC Agrícola and the Horita group – in the west of the State of Bahia.

The Brazilian families who own these farms have “a heavy history of legal proceedings, convictions for corruption and millionaire fines for illegal deforestation”, denounces the NGO.

They carry out their activities in a part of the Cerrado region, savannah famous for the richness of its fauna and flora.

Those tons of cotton They then reached eight textile factories in Asia where the two fashion giants, the Spanish Zara and the Swedish H&M, are supplied.

All that cotton has been certified as “sustainable” from the nonprofit Better Cotton (BC), according to Earthsight.

“To ensure that the cotton is ethically sourced, both companies rely on cotton supplied by farmers certified by Better Cotton, the world’s best-known sustainable cotton certification scheme,” but “has deep” gaps, Earthsight complained.

“We take the allegations against Better Cotton very seriously, which in its specifications strictly prohibits practices such as land grabbing and deforestation,” Inditex, Zara’s parent company, told AFP, saying it had requested the findings of the investigation. “as soon as possible”.

Similarly, H&M told AFP that “the conclusions of the Earthsight report They are very concerning and we take them very seriously.. He added that the Swedish group was “one of the first to switch to 100% organic, recycled or sustainably sourced cotton” and that it is “following the research findings” in close dialogue with Better Cotton.

The Better Cotton brand told Earthsight that “entrusted to an independent auditor the task of carrying out enhanced verification visits” following the NGO’s report.

In mid-March, European Council member states validated legislation creating a “duty of vigilance” imposed on EU businesses environmental protection obligations and human rights in their production chains on a global scale.

With information from AFP via RFI