{"id":36319,"date":"2021-03-03T23:26:22","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T22:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bylandry.com\/envert-v2\/unclassified\/2021\/03\/casino-assigne-en-justice\/"},"modified":"2021-03-23T23:59:38","modified_gmt":"2021-03-23T22:59:38","slug":"casino-in-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/envol-vert.org\/en\/news\/2021\/03\/casino-in-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Casino sue in court"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amazon indigenous communities and international NGOs sue supermarket giant Casino\/P\u00e3o de A\u00e7\u00facar\/\u00c9xito over deforestation and human rights violations.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This Wednesday, March 3, 2021, indigenous peoples from the Brazilian and Colombian Amazon and non-governmental organizations from France and the US today filed a lawsuit in the Saint-Etienne court against global retail giant Groupe Casino over selling beef products linked to deforestation and land grabbing.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

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This is the first time a supermarket chain is taken to court over deforestation and human rights violations under the French due diligence law adopted in March 2017 (\u201cloi sur le devoir de vigilance\u201d in French). Indigenous groups claim compensation for damages done to their customary lands and the impact on their livelihoods.<\/p>\n

Environmental destruction and human rights violations<\/h3>\n

The three slaughterhouses sourced cattle from 592 suppliers responsible for at least 50,000 hectares of deforestation between 2008 and 2020<\/span><\/h4>\n

The lawsuit alleges systemic violations of human rights and environmental laws in Groupe Casino\u2019s supply chains in Brazil and Colombia over a long period of time. According to evidence compiled and analysed by the\u00a0Center for Climate Crime Analysis<\/a>\u00a0(CCCA) for this case, Groupe Casino regularly bought beef from three slaughterhouses owned by JBS, a giant meatpacker. The three slaughterhouses sourced cattle from 592 suppliers responsible for at least 50,000 hectares of deforestation between 2008 and 2020 (1). The deforested area is five times the size of Paris.<\/p>\n

Evidence submitted in this lawsuit also shows violations of indigenous rights. In one of the documented cases, customary land owned and managed by the Uru Eu Wau Wau community in the State of Rond\u00f4nia, Brazil was invaded and put into production by cattle farms supplying beef to Casino\u2019s P\u00e3o de A\u00e7\u00facar.<\/p>\n

Groupe Casino\u2019s responsibility<\/h3>\n

The company has dared to write to the plaintiffs that \u00ab\u00a0due to the low number of reports mentioning cattle as a driver of deforestation in Colombia\u00a0\u00bb,<\/em> Casino doesn\u2019t consider it relevant to include the country in the scope of their due diligence plan.<\/span><\/h4>\n

Despite\u00a0numerous media reports<\/a>\u00a0linking Groupe Casino\u2019s products to deforestation and land grabbing, the company has failed to overhaul its monitoring and enforcement policies to ensure there\u2019s no environmental or human rights violations in its entire supply chain. The company has dared to write to the plaintiffs that \u201cdue to the low number of reports mentioning cattle as a driver of deforestation in Colombia<\/em>\u201d Casino doesn\u2019t consider it relevant to include the country in the scope of their due diligence plan. Yet, Colombia has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, with cattle being the main cause (2).<\/p>\n

In spite of the\u00a0ever-growing body<\/a>\u00a0of evidence linking the world\u2019s biggest meat company, JBS, to deforestation and even\u00a0slave labour<\/a>\u00a0(3), Casino Group still buys from JBS. Furthermore, Groupe Casino has failed to commit to only sell zero-deforestation nor zero-conversion meat in their P\u00e3o de A\u00e7\u00facar, Casino or Grupo \u00c9xito stores.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Groupe Casino is the largest supermarket chain in Brazil and Colombia through its brands P\u00e3o de A\u00e7\u00facar and Grupo \u00c9xito respectively. Casino\u2019s South American operations account for nearly half (47%) of the group\u2019s global revenues.<\/p>\n

France\u2019s Duty of Vigilance law requires France-based companies with over 5,000 employees to take adequate and effective measures to prevent serious human rights and environmental violations in their entire supply chains. Should they fail to do so, they may be held liable and ordered to pay damages.<\/p>\n

Amazon\u2019s tipping point<\/h3>\n

Cattle ranching is the main driver of deforestation in South America, in particular in Brazil. According to Brazil\u2019s space agency (INPE), deforestation of the Amazon rainforest has surged to a 12-year high. The\u00a0Amazon is in danger of reaching a tipping point<\/a>\u00a0of switching from a canopy rainforest to open grassland.<\/p>\n

Last December, the Brazilian government\u00a0removed any measure to tackle deforestation<\/a>\u00a0in the national climate action plan (known as an NDC) under the Paris Agreement, although forest loss continues to be the main source of greenhouse gas emissions in the country.<\/p>\n

Comments from the plaintiffs<\/h3>\n

The breadth and diversity of the coalition is testament to the global footprint and the variety of impacts caused by industrial beef production as well as the need for a collective defense.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Luis Eloy Terena of the Terena people of Brazil, legal advisor at COIAB\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

\u201cIt is important for COIAB to be part of this lawsuit because the Brazilian Amazon falls within purview for action in defense of the constitutional rights and guarantees of the indigenous peoples who live here. We are responsible as well for defending isolated or initially contacted peoples. As we make clear in the complaint, the demand for beef by Casino and P\u00e3o de A\u00e7\u00facar brings deforestation and land grabbing and violence, and the murder of indigenous leaders when they choose to resist. With this lawsuit, we seek to hold\u00a0 the company accountable for the consequences of these impacts and to bring some relief to the reality confronted by our Indigenous Peoples on their Lands.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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\u201cCattle ranching, monocultures and other extractive industries are putting our lives at risk and exterminating indigenous peoples. Therefore this legal action over neglecting the demands in the meat supply chain, which come from cattle ranching, is fully supported by our organization.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Fany Kuiru Castro of the Uitoto people of Colombia, director at OPIAC <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Boris Patentreger, co-founder of Envol Vert\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

\u201cIn 2021, in a world where we can technically trace and monitor everything, an international group called Casino, which has seen tremendous growth in South America in the last years, fails to eliminate deforestation from all its supply chain. That\u2019s unacceptable!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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\u201cThe number of deforestation and human rights abuses cases that have been documented in Casino\u2019s supply chain in Brazil shows that its alleged vigilance measures are neither adequate, nor effective. Sherpa successfully advocated for years for the adoption of the French Duty of Vigilance Law and this case is emblematic of the violations that it precisely aims to avoid<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Lucie Chatelain, lawyer at Sherpa<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Sebastien Mabile, lawyer of Seattle Avocats\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

\u201cThis lawsuit will demonstrate the breadth and depth of France\u2019s Duty of Vigilance law, which applies to the entire supply chain, both in France and abroad. The law imposes on multinational corporations actions to prevent breaches proportional to the risks identified, as well as strict social and judiciary controls. The seriousness of the violations documented in this case leads us to initiate the first liability action on the basis of this text.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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\u201cJBS is not only the largest meat company in the world but it\u2019s also one of the worst forest destroyers in Brazil. For this reason Groupe Casino must drop JBS altogether. But we also call on other leading European supermarkets such as Carrefour, Tesco, Albert Heijn and Lidl to break their links to deforestation and drop JBS, the slaughter of the Amazon.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Nico Muzi, Europe director of Mighty Earth\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Cecilia Rinaudo, general coordinator of Notre Affaire \u00e0 Tous\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

\u201cThis case is a tragic example of the interdependence between the environment and human rights, both protected by the Duty of diligence law. Casino only identifies slave labour as an associated risk in their supply chain without taking any measure to eradicate it. Moreover, the firm failed to identify land grabbing as a threat to human rights despite many reports on this well-known issue. Casino cannot stay passive and must adopt concrete measures to prevent these major risks.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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\u201cFrance adopted the Duty of Vigilance law in 2017 and the National Strategy Against Imported Deforestation in 2018. These public policies must be translated into concrete actions by companies like Casino to finally stop deforestation.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Adeline Favrel, forest campaign coordinator of France Nature Environnement\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Klervi Le Guenic, campaigner of Canop\u00e9e <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

\u201cCasino is not the only retailer responsible, they all have the power to change things. Carrefour is one of the largest retailers in Brazil and is also particularly exposed to deforestation risks. They have to ditch the meat companies linked to Amazon destruction.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Coalition\u2019s members are :<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>