Timberland Takes First Steps, But Needs to Put its Foot Down Once and For All!
Published July 27, 2009 @ 12:06PM PT
Responding to concerns that its demand for leather is fueling deforestation of the Amazon and contributing to climate change, Timberland has taken a major step toward protecting the Amazon rainforest today. While the company’s announcement of a new policy is a positive and welcome step, Timberland needs to put its foot down and tell Bertin, one of Timberland’s leather suppliers and one of the dirtiest companies in Brazil, that it will no longer purchase leather made from Amazon destruction, period.
Bertin supports the deforestation and burning of the Amazon to graze cattle. According to our report, “Slaughtering the Amazon,” that’s not all that’s wrong with Bertin:
Greenpeace has identified hundreds of ranches within the Amazon rainforest supplying cattle to Bertin’s slaughterhouses in the Amazon state of Pará. Where Greenpeace was able to obtain mapped boundaries for ranches, satellite analysis reveals that significant supplies of cattle come from ranches active in recent and illegal deforestation. Trade data also reveal trade with ranches using modern-day slavery. Additionally, one Bertin slaughterhouse receives supplies of cattle from an illegal ranch occupying Indian Lands. (p. 66)
The Brazilian Federal Prosecutor based in Para State has opened a billion-dollar lawsuit against Bertin and other cattle companies for illegal deforestation. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private lending arm of the World Bank, has withdrawn a $90 million dollar loan to Bertin. It’s time for Timberland to take the next step and let Bertin know that it will cancel its contract if Bertin doesn’t stop supporting Amazon deforestation and global warming.
Please write to Timberland now and thank them for taking the first step, but ask them to put their foot down once and for all by establishing a policy of accepting absolutely no leather from Bertin until Bertin commits to a moratorium on any new deforestation for cattle expansion. If Timberland does not take a hard line with suppliers who are destroying the Amazon and our climate for cattle, who will?
Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.
Recent Blog Posts
-
- Nike Establishes Policy to Protect the Amazon
-
Published July 23, 2009 @ 12:38PM PT
Nike Establishes Policy to Protect the Amazon!!! Current mood: ecstatic Hey Friends! Great news: today, Nike announced a new policy that ensures the leather used in Nike shoes will not contribute to global warming caused by Amazon deforestation! The Greenpeace report “Slaughtering the Amazon” released just last month... Read More
-
- Save the climate! Get involved with your community!
-
Published June 15, 2009 @ 02:01PM PT
Hi Friends, Don’t let another day go by without getting involved and taking action to rescue the climate! Greenpeace has some wonderful opportunities to protect our planet in your own community. Get involved with our global warming campaign in your community today! http://members.greenpeace.org/survey/start/144/?ref_source=change_volu... Read More
-
- What's MY Story?
-
Published May 06, 2009 @ 01:32PM PT
Hi Friends, As an online organizing intern for Greenpeace, I feel that it is essential to stop the effects of Global Warming as soon as possible. But this feeling didn't come out of thin air. A lot of my life has been spent as an avid supporter of the environment, from the days where I'd watch Captain Planet religiously to today, where I work... Read More
-
- Share Your Story!
-
Published April 29, 2009 @ 01:55PM PT
Hi Friends, We all have unique stories about why we joined the movement to stop global warming. Here at Greenpeace, we want to know why each and every one of you decided to pitch in and why you care. After all, these stories ultimately give the movement its strength. Share your story today! Recently. Californian Representative Henry Waxman has introdu... Read More
