Could the French group Casino be partly responsible for deforestation in the Amazon?

At least that's what French and American non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as representatives of the indigenous peoples of the Brazilian and Colombian Amazon, claim.

The international coalition has also gone on the offensive: on March 3, the 11 French and foreign organizations brought proceedings against the French multinational before the judicial court in Saint-Étienne, the city where the group's headquarters are located. 

>> To read: Deforestation in the Amazon: 2020, the worst year in 12 years

The NGO group accuses the French multinational for selling beef products in its stores in South America, linked to deforestation and land grabbing from indigenous peoples.

"We ask the group to respect the environmental charter by adopting new environmental measures and repairing the damage suffered by indigenous peoples," Sébastien Mabile, lawyer for the international coalition of associations, told France 24.

As such, we are demanding more than three million euros in compensation. "

A first !

11 NGOs with indigenous organizations https://t.co/dHOGKpDCFS

- Boris Patentreger (@borispatent) March 3, 2021

An unprecedented step

The approach is unique.

"This is the first time that a chain of hypermarkets has been taken to court for deforestation and human rights violations in its supply chain," said association officials during the press conference organized on the 3rd March.

To do this, the civil party is based on French law, and more precisely on the basis of the law on the duty of vigilance adopted in March 2017. This French law requires companies based in France and employing more than 5,000 employees to take appropriate and effective measures to prevent serious violations of human rights and the environment throughout their supply chain, failing which they incur liability and may be ordered to pay damages. 

In this legal battle that is opening, the collective ensures that it has evidence gathered by the Center for Climate Crime Analysis.

The latter claims that the Casino group regularly bought beef from three slaughterhouses that source their livestock from 592 suppliers responsible for at least 50,000 hectares of deforestation between 2008 and 2020, an area equivalent to five times the size. from Paris. 

Environmental and human damage 

The Casino Group is the largest supermarket chain in Brazil and Colombia, with their respective brands Grupo Pão de Açúcar (GPA) and Grupo Éxito.

Casino activities in South America represent nearly half (47%) of the group's turnover.  

"It is therefore normal that those who derive benefits from the environmental and human disaster linked to deforestation, largely from cattle breeding, pay", estimates Lucie Chatelain, lawyer for the Sherpa association.

We know that cattle breeding is the main source of deforestation in South America, particularly in Brazil.

According to the Brazilian Space Agency (INPE), deforestation of the Amazon rainforest has reached its highest level in twelve years.

The Amazon is at risk of reaching a point of no return, moving from a tropical rainforest to a savannah. 

In addition to environmental damage, the plaintiffs also want to assert human rights abuses.

"We, indigenous peoples, are the guardians of the Amazon and indigenous lands, asserts Luiz Floy of the Terena people in Brazil and legal advisor to the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), during the press conference. . Beyond the financial damage, the damage suffered on indigenous lands affects our way of life, threatens the survival of our culture, our traditions and ultimately that of our people. "

Crazy Casino 

Contacted by France 24, the communications department of Casino did not wish to comment on an ongoing legal procedure, of which the group has just learned.

She nevertheless insisted on affirming to the editorial staff that "the Brazilian subsidiary GPA deploys a systematic and rigorous policy of controlling the origin of the beef delivered by its suppliers".

And to continue, "the Casino group, through its subsidiaries in Latin America, has been actively fighting, and for several years, against deforestation linked to cattle breeding in Brazil and Colombia, taking into account the complexity supply chains. "

For its part, the coalition maintains that the French brand, despite the formal notices, has still not committed to excluding meat or processed products from deforestation from its Grupo Pão de Açúcar, Casino or Grupo Éxito stores. .

"In 2021, we can go to Mars but a group like Casino is not able to eliminate deforestation from its entire supply chain. This is unacceptable", annoys Boris Patentreger, co-founder of the association Envol Green.

The humanitarian manager also deplores "the double talk" of the multinational.

"With its Naturalia and Monoprix brands, the group is on the one hand playing the organic card for its French urban customers and, on the other, participating in deforestation in the Amazon." 

Casino and the others ...

The Casino group is not the only distributor to be singled out.

The investigation site Disclose denounced the role of the Carrefour brand in the deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon.

At this stage, "we have chosen to sue the Casino group because it is established in Colombia and Brazil, unlike Carrefour which is only present in Brazil, but our requirements with regard to this group are same. "  

Distributors are not the only ones responsible.

The public authorities also bear a heavy share of responsibility, according to the collective.

Last December, the Brazilian government removed all measures to fight deforestation in its national climate action plan, although the disappearance of forests remains the main source of greenhouse gas emissions in the country. . 

Powerless against the American public authorities, French NGOs hope that the approach will at least "make people aware of the responsibility that each French group bears in the world", insists Mr. Sébastien Mabile.

Given the extent of the legal process initiated, the trial should not begin for 12 to 18 months.

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