Supply Change:
Fashion’s Link to Amazon Rainforest Destruction
If you’re wearing leather shoes, a leather belt or carrying a leather handbag, it’s highly likely that it was made from cowhide that contributed to the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.
The Amazon rainforest is fast approaching the tipping point of irreversible ecosystem collapse, according to scientists. We’re calling on the world’s leading fashion brands to act immediately to protect the Amazon rainforest, its people, and our global climate future.
Find out here which brands have ties to deforestation.
The Brazilian cattle industry is the main driver of deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest. The industry is driven by demand for beef and leather. Brazilian leather is used by tanneries and manufacturers around the world to make countless branded consumer-facing products including footwear and high-end fashion products.
A study published in Nature warned for the first time that the Amazon has become a net carbon emitter––now releasing 1 billion more tons of carbon dioxide than it absorbs. This catastrophic development is the direct result of bad government policy and irresponsible corporate practice, and it threatens life on earth as we know it.
The good news: Tropical deforestation is not necessary for livestock production nor essential for rural economic development. We already have plenty of models for effective rainforest conservation –– Indigenous land tenure, community forest management, regenerative forest enterprise development –– including from Brazil, which made great strides in reducing deforestation between 2005 - 2015.
