UK green jet fuel imports found to have links with illegal Amazon deforestation

UK Green Jet Fuel imports linked to illegal Amazon deforestation through traceability gaps.

An investigation by Unearthed and Repórter Brasil has revealed that "sustainable" aviation fuel exported to Britain and the European Union is linked to illegal deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, News.Az reports, citing ClimateChangeNews.

Shipping data and court documents show that the US-based biofuels giant Diamond Green Diesel purchased hundreds of thousands of tonnes of beef tallow from a Brazilian supply chain involving meatpackers fined for ranching on protected land.

The findings focus on the Pacífico rendering plant in the Amazon state of Rondônia which serves as a primary supplier for the US producer. This plant sources raw materials from DistriBoi, a meatpacker recently penalized for illegally purchasing cattle from the Jaci-Paraná conservation reserve. Once a pristine rainforest, nearly 80% of this reserve has been decimated by illegal land grabbers to make way for cattle pasture.

The controversy highlights a major regulatory loophole where animal fats used for biofuel are classified as waste products. Unlike primary commodities like beef or leather, these by-products face far less oversight and often bypass strict sustainability audits.

Environmental advocates warn that as the UK and EU mandate higher quotas for green fuels to meet climate goals, they may unknowingly be boosting the profit margins of ranchers responsible for destroying Earth’s most critical carbon sinks.

While the industry maintains that biofuels remain the most viable path to decarbonizing flight, experts argue that without closing these traceability blind spots, the environmental cost of destroying the Amazon could outweigh the carbon savings of the fuel itself.

News.Az 

By Leyla Şirinova