On December 9, 2022, Brazilian and international civil society organizations (CSOs) wrote a letter to the International Finance Corporation (IFC, an arm of the World Bank) to not approve the proposed US$900 million loan for Suzano, the world’s largest producer of market pulp. The loan would fund the “Cerrado Project” (Ribas do Rio Pardo mill).

The expansion of pulp plantations to feed the mill is leading to decline of species richness in the Cerrado. These plantations will also cause deforestation by using land previously converted by the cattle ranch industry and pushing it towards the deforestation frontier. They are also already depleting the local water table and increasing the risk of massive forest fires.

This month, the Environmental Paper Network (EPN) published a report on the impacts of the ongoing and massive expansion of the pulp & paper industry in Mato Grosso do Sul, in Brazil’s Cerrado biome. Read the full report, titled “Scorching the earth Pulp and paper expansion in Três Lagoas, Brazil”, here.

EPN Report summary here Portuguese version of EPN report here