University and Jesus agree £10m partnership with Brazilian company accused of environmental crimes

Jesus College and the University of Cambridge have announced a partnership with Brazilian biomaterials company Suzano, despite the firm being accused of mistreating indigenous communities and environmental greenwashing.

According to a statement from Jesus College, the Susano Scholars Fund will be used to “support education and research in areas such as biodiversity conservation, business sustainability, and natural habitat restoration in Brazil and beyond.”

The fund consists of a £10 million donation, which will be divided into £7.85 million to Jesus College and £2.15 million to the University of Cambridge.

The funding will be offered to postgraduate students from Brazilian nationals studying Cambridge degrees related to “environment, ecology and conservation” alongside faculty from the university’s Conservation Research Institute.

Suzano is Latin America’s largest paper producer and is reportedly facing 262 civil and environmental lawsuits. Indigenous communities in Brazil have accused the company of land grabs, water pollution and pesticide-related harm, among other social and environmental abuses.

According to the Union of Family Farm Workers (SINTRAF) in Anapurus, northeastern Brazil, about 70% of the land acquired by Suzano came from land grabs. The company owns more than a million hectares of eucalyptus plantations across Brazil and reportedly plans to double this in the next decade.

The company rejects these claims and argues that its practice of planting new trees has a net benefit in terms of biodiversity and climate change.

Members of one of the “quilombos” – a word used to describe communities that were originally formed by Africans escaping slavery – in the southern Brazilian Volta Miuda region said Suzano’s plantations were causing groundwater levels to drop in their area and agrochemicals were polluting environment. their waterways.

Suzano also plans to build a new road in the region, which community members say will destroy their traditional trails and gathering places.

One of the community members said Far East in 2023: “Suzano commits environmental racism. He ignores and disrespects the history of our people, our black heritage and the suffering we bear and experience. They ignore us. Our right to consultation has been violated.”

Article published Mongabay earlier this year also detailed allegations that members of the quilombo community in the Sape do Norte region were suffering health problems due to Suzano’s “toxic dust”.

Members of this community reported physical sensations such as itching, stomach problems, and headaches caused by exposure to pesticides. One resident reportedly had her retina detached after the “poison” got into her eye.

Report published Green Desert Alert The network also revealed that Suzano emits about 4 million tons of CO2 annually, which is more than the annual carbon emissions of 32 countries.

Aracruz Celulose SA, a manufacturer acquired by Suzano in 2009, is also accused of “dictatorship-era human rights violations” against indigenous peoples. Before his arrival in Sape do Norte, there were approximately 12,000 quilombola families living there. Now it is less than 2000.

Environmental group Organization of Radical Cambridge Activists (ORCA), which has accused Jesus and the University of greenwashing, said University that they are “horrified to learn that the university is entering into yet another toxic partnership.”

“The rhetoric of decolonization and environmental responsibility is completely empty while the university continues to work with companies involved in the exploitation of land, people and water,” they said.

“The Landless Workers Movement (MST) and indigenous peoples have been resisting Suzano in Brazil for over a decade, and we stand with them against this harmful greenwashing company,” the group continued.

Jesus faced more accusations of greenwashing after a Nov. 19 speech titled “On Conservation.” The conversation was moderated by a former World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) member, current WWF executive director and biodiversity consultant.

In an Instagram post after the event, ORCA accused Jesus College of “complicity in WWF’s cruel colonial preservation project.”

They argued that the WWF practices “fortified conservation, a violent colonial form of conservation that involves the removal of traditional stewards of the land” while allowing “trophy hunters to visit the lands they ‘conserve’ to make a profit.”

A spokesman for Jesus College said: “Susano’s £10 million donation to Jesus College and the University of Cambridge has been carefully vetted by both organisations.”

“The gift will be used to further the education of Brazilian citizens pursuing postgraduate studies related to the environment, sustainable development, ecology and conservation, and to support education and research in areas such as biodiversity conservation, business sustainability and restoration. natural habitats in Brazil and beyond,” they said.