A new cross-border legal initiative is targeting environmental destruction through the lens of financial crime. ICBHR member organisation, the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), is part of this coalition that brings frontline Indigenous and local communities together with international lawyers, investigators and civil society groups to directly confront the financial systems driving global deforestation and human rights abuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This coordinated effort involves 14 legal complaints filed across four European jurisdictions targeting the world’s largest meat processor, JBS and its financial enablers under anti-money laundering laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As part of this coordinated push, a regulatory complaint has been submitted right here in Ireland to the Central Bank against BlackRock Investments. This sits alongside a criminal complaint filed in the Netherlands against JBS’s parent company, and parallel regulatory actions lodged in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands against JBS’s primary financial investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These complaints matter because commercial cattle farming remains the primary driver behind the destruction of the Brazilian Amazon. Extensive evidence directly ties JBS to this systematic clearing. Because much of this environmental damage occurs inside strictly protected conservation zones, it crosses the line from regulatory non-compliance to serious criminal offences under Brazilian law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This context triggers critical legal mechanisms. Under established anti-money laundering (AML) frameworks, livestock raised on illegally cleared land and any subsequent profits from their sale are legally classified as the proceeds of crime. Consequently, any financial institution, corporate partner or intermediary operating within JBS’s intricate supply chain that processes these funds faces the distinct risk of committing a money laundering offence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A new report commissioned by the TLC reveals the true scale of the problem, linking JBS to 6.5 million hectares of cleared rainforest. The findings show that 80% of the supplier areas investigated directly overlap with legally protected “Legal Reserves.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The TLC’s work is a huge push towards ensuring that JBS and their business partners can no longer escape accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n