“Land Grabbing and Ecocide: How Bunge, TIAA, and Harvard Fuel the Destruction of the Brazilian Cerrado”

Financial speculation in land is central to the deforestation and violence unfolding in the Cerrado, where land is often violently taken from communities and then deforested in preparation for industrial soy production. The price of land used for soy production in Brazil has risen 127% on average over the past three years, fueling land speculation in areas like Santa Filomena in the state of Piauí. Such speculation by international financial institutions threatens the lives and livelihoods of Indigenous, quilombola, and rural communities who have lived on these lands for generations, have legitimate land rights, and are actively demanding collective titles to their territories under existing laws.