Apple buys carbon credits from eucalyptus monocultures in Paraguay. Nearby communities and a school are exposed to dangerous agrochemicals
New investigation by Climate Tracker and Consensus focuses on the agrochemicals used in the monoculture plantations.
Last week, the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court ruled that Apple cannot advertise its Smart Watch as “carbon neutral”. The court ruled that Apple’s advertising was misleading and in breach of Germany’s Unfair Competition Act.
When Apple announced its Watch Series 9, in September 2023, the company’s press release claimed that Apple would be “Investing in high-quality carbon removal”.
Apple would buy “high-quality carbon credits primarily from nature-based projects that remove carbon from the atmosphere”. And it talked about “helping to restore and protect high-quality working forests and native ecosystems in Paraguay and Brazil”.
A recent investigation, published by Climate Tracker and Consensus and written by journalists Esteban Tavera and Maximiliano Manzoni, takes a look at the cloned eucalyptus monoculture plantations that generate carbon credits bought by Apple.
The investigation revealed that these industrial tree plantations do not comply with regulations for the use of agrochemicals. As a result, local communities and a school close to the eucalyptus monocultures are exposed to dangerous pesticides.
The plantations in Paraguay were established by an international forestry fund called the Arbaro Fund — a private equity fund incorporated in the tax haven of Luxembourg. The Fund is managed by Arbaro Advisors, which was established by two German companies: Finance in Motion, an investment company; and Unique Group, a forest consulting and management firm.
Use of agrochemicals restricted or banned in Europe
Unique Group manages the plantations in Paraguay. In its own 2024 report about the management of Florestal Apepú, Unique Wood Paraguay describes using haloxyfop and glyphosate for weed control.
Glyphosate is classified as “probably carcinogenic to humans” by the World Health Organisation. In 2020, Bayer agreed to pay US$10 billion to settle claims that its weedkiller Roundup caused cancer. The main ingredient in Roundup is glyphosate. Since then, Bayer has lost several more legal cases.
A 2016 study found that when glyphosate is applied in plantations, it can remain in the soil between one and 280 days. Climate Tracker notes that this poses a high risk of contamination of underground water sources, the probability of fish becoming contaminated, and the subsequent health dangers of eating fish.
Haloxyfop is highly restricted in Europe.
In addition, Unique Wood uses the agrochemicals fipronil and sulfluramid for ant control.
Sulfluramid has been banned for almost all insecticidal applications. The only use still allowed under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is as a bait to control leaf-cutting ants. Unique Wood states that it uses sulfuramid “primarily as bait”. The word “primarily” suggests that this banned agrochemical is not only used as bait. The International Pollutants Elimination Network is calling for a worldwide ban on sulfluramid.
Fipronil has been banned in the European Union since 2013.
Communities and school knew nothing about agrochemicals
Carbon Tracker reports that the community of Cañada Santa Rosa, near to the Florestal Apepú plantations was unaware of the use of these agrochemicals.
Climate Tracker obtained a legal analysis by the National Seed Service, which is in charge of controlling the use of agrochemicals. The analysis states that the phytosanitary law applies to plantations.
The Santa Rosa de Lima school is only 30 metres from the eucalyptus plantations. This is in breach of Paraguay’s phytosanitary law which requires prior notice to the community about the use of agrochemicals. It also requires a minimum distance of 100 metres between plantations where agrochemicals are applied and schools.
The National Forestry Institute is responsible for regulating industrial tree plantations in Paraguay. The Institute told Climate Tracker that they do not take the phytosanitary law into consideration when granting licences for eucalyptus plantations.
Hernan Alonso is the director of the Santa Rosa de Lima School. As well as the serious risks that agrochemicals present to children, he is also concerned about fires. “In previous years there were fires and the smoke came here,” he told Climate Tracker.
Climate Tracker found signs indicating “high” to “very high” risk of fires in the Florestal Apepú plantations, even though it had rained in the days before Climate Tracker’s visit to the area.
Paraguay has faced severe drought in recent years, which increases the risk of fires in eucalyptus plantations.
Apple and Unique did not respond to Climate Tracker’s requests for comments.
The impact of these agrochemicals is predictable. In 2021, Omar T. Yampey, a researcher at Centro de Estudios Heñoi wrote a report for Global Forest Coalition about the Arbaro Fund’s plantations in Paraguay. One of the villagers living near Forestal Apepú told him that,
“There is nothing, not even birds come down . . . silence, there is nothing here . . . not even a little bug. In other places where our native trees are, birds fly around happily; but not here: total silence.”
Great post.
Exposes the farce of Timberland being a sustainable investment on every level.
Value is only realised at death.
It's so utterly bizzare and sadly ironic that the biggest investors in Timberland are pension funds.
Investing into an asset which has zero value in 25 years!