London

Three of the world’s largest central banks have been accused of financing agri-business giants that are engaged in the destruction of the climate change-sensitive Amazon rainforest in Brazil, a report published on Wednesday claimed.

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These three central banks— Bank of England, the US Federal Reserve and the European Central— have purchased millions of dollars in bonds issued by the companies linked to deforestation and land-grabbing, says a report called ‘Bankrolling Destruction’, published by the rights group Global Witness.

“Because these programmes are guaranteed by the respective governments in the UK, the US and EU Member States, this means taxpayers throughout those territories are unwittingly underwriting companies engaged in the destruction of the Amazon and other rainforests,” the report said.

The report has named three big agri-businesses operating in Brazil engaging in deforestation and that have sold bonds to the banks. These are: Cargill, Inc., the Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (ADM) and Bunge Ltd Financial Corp.

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It has claimed that the Bank of England, since 2016, “purchased an undisclosed share in a £150m corporate bond issued by Cargill, Inc.”, while the European Central Bank bought an “undisclosed amount of debt issued by Bunge Finance Europe BV.”

And the US Federal Reserve, in the last two years, has bought bonds worth $16m issued by the Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (ADM) Bunge Ltd Financial Corp, and Cargill, Inc.

“All this comes despite the repeated public statements from all three central banks stressing the risks that climate change poses to financial stability and long-term economic growth,” the report noted.

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Responding to the allegations, Cargill clarified that it was “committed to ending deforestation and conversion in our agricultural supply chains” while Bunge stated it was “committed to complying with all regulations either in local or global markets and to adhering to our own strict social-environmental policies,” reports The Guardian. ADM, on the other hand, has refused to comment.

(With inputs from agencies)

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