Every Step Counts To Save The Amazon
Boots and training shoes are not the first things that spring to mind when you think about the root causes of rainforest destruction and climate change. But just because the connection isn’t obvious doesn’t mean it isn’t real – as our researchers have been busy proving in a new report released at the beginning of this week.
Slaughtering the Amazon tracks beef and leather products on their journey from farms involved in illegal deforestation and in some cases slavery, via giant processing facilities to the supply chains of some of our best known global brands. Right now the cattle industry is the single biggest cause of deforestation in the world as trees are cleared to make way for ranches. Shoe companies like Adidas, Reebok, Nike, Timberland and even Clarks are sourcing leather products from the companies responsible.Since the release of the report we have been talking to these companies – none of them have been able to provide evidence that they are not using Amazon leather in their shoes. It’s vital at this stage that we keep the pressure on them to make sure that they tell their suppliers that they won’t buy leather linked to Amazon destruction. Please help us to get this message across – write and tell them that if they want to retain the good name of their brands they’d be wise to take a stand and stop doing business with the worst Brazilian suppliers immediately.
Watch: Every step counts to save the Amazon
But it’s not only shoes. Products as diverse as handbags and ready meals, and companies as big as Tesco, BMW, IKEA and Kraft also rely on Amazon beef and leather. Practically all of us will have some by-product of Amazon destruction in our homes somewhere, whether we like it or not.
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