A U.S. investment firm that manages U.S., Canadian and Swedish pension funds came under pressure on Tuesday to give locations of its land investments in Brazil as coalition of campaign groups voiced concerns about the impact on local farmers.
The American financial group and its partners amassed vast new holdings of farmland despite a move by Brazil’s government in 2010 to effectively ban such large-scale deals by foreigners.
Land plots for cultivation are now in hot demand by investors, who can make profits now and protect their assets in the long term.
The world’s biggest sustainable palm oil organization is accused of ignoring flaws within its certification process that have allowed oil palm companies to hide significant violations of the body’s own sustainability standards behind its seal of approval.
A New York company managing the retirement savings of workers in Sweden, the US and Canada is evading Brazilian laws on foreign investment to acquire farmlands from a businessman accused of violently displacing local communities.
The REDD+ and its carbon trade will not resolve the climate crisis
Despite their due diligence, Rabobank missed the fact that they were buying land in a village racked with corruption and land rights abuse, and from sellers deeply involved in murky business.
Land grabs and the speculation in land acquisitions are a growing reality globally. These trends were the focus of a one-day conference near Montreal yesterday looking into the evolution and effect on farmers in the province of Quebec.
A small and poor village in Romania has become the focus of a story involving land grabbing by foreign-owned multinationals and mafia-style corruption.
Investment AB Kinnevik today announced that it has sold its Polish agricultural business Rolnyvik, which holds 6,700 hectares of land in Poland, for a total consideration of approximately SEK 400m in cash.
Logging operations are only ramping up, and exploiting special leases, meant for the development of agricultural projects, to clear forest on land belonging to customary owners.
China's appetite for offshore investment in food and agriculture is expected to rebound from a lull that has delayed some deals, given strong interest to meet growing domestic demand, a leading banker said.
