Deforestation free soy initiative delivers its first 42,000 tonnes of verified DCF soy from Brazil

OXFORD, U.K. - May 10, 2023 - PRLog -- The environmental impact of the first year of the Responsible Commodities Facility 'Cerrado Programme 1' has been calculated and independently verified and published in the first Annual Report. The inaugural programme, which was funded by Tesco, Sainsbury's and Waitrose, delivered 42,400 tonnes of verified deforestation and conversion free soy into the supply chain from the 32 participating farms located in the Cerrado region of Brazil.

The programme resulted in 8,541 ha of native vegetation being conserved, of which 2,145 ha is in excess of the legal reserve requirement. This sequestered 2.9 MtCO2 carbon stocks in native vegetation and 0 tCO2e land use change emissions occurred.

The participating landowners committed to forgo their right to legally convert the remaining vegetation in their farms (in excess of legal minimum requirements), and adhere to other social and environmental requirements, as defined in RCF's Eligibility Criteria, in order to participate in the programme. The 32 farms were then able to benefit from the $11million invested by UK supermarkets Tesco, Sainsbury's and Waitrose distributed as low interest loans. The initiative is financed through a first of its kind approach: dollar-denominated green bonds (CRAs – Certificates of Receivables from the Agribusiness) registered in the Vienna Bourse.

At the end of the first year of this four-year programme;100% of the funds invested were disbursed to eligible farmers selected on multiple criteria, including the farms' location and deforestation risk, area of excess legal reserve, and credit history. No participating farmers deforested or converted natural vegetation. All farmers successfully harvested their soy crop.

Monitoring of environmental obligations and impacts was conducted by the teams at RCF creators Sustainable Investment Management (SIM) and BVRio, and independently verified by Earth Daily Agro. The RCF Environmental Committee reviewed the methodologies used for impact quantification and monitoring reports. The committee comprises of The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, WWF Brasil, UN Environment, IPAM, Proforest, and BVRio, which provides the secretariat.

SIM Director, Pedro Moura Costa, commented, "We are pleased to announce these results. The programme has worked as designed, and the concept has been proven. Now, we need to rapidly scale-up to deliver greater environmental protection to the Cerrado, which is under increasing pressure due to additional legislation being placed elsewhere in Brazil. International soy buyers want DCF soy in their supply chains, and this mechanism can deliver that at scale."

Visit: https://sim.finance/responsible-commodities-facility/