Leyland Tesco targeted by GreenPeace UK campaign as chain is accused of causing forest destruction

And Tesco’s new global CEO was welcomed by nearby residents with a clear message to 'stop selling industrial meats' and 'cut ties with forest destroyers'.

On Sunday, October 11, posters appeared on the front window of the Tesco Express, Leyland Lane, exposing how Tesco's profit from the meat chain is linked to forest destruction.

The posters were accompanied by a letter from Greenpeace UK Executive Director John Sauven, alerting the new CEO Ken Murphy that customers 'want Tesco to drop forest destroyers from their supply chains and reduce the amount of meat they sell by at least half'.

It was suggested that the chain started by phasing out industrial meat.

John Regan, from Preston said, “I found it impossible to simply walk past this shocking image of the Amazon burning to clear land to produce industrial meat. The message to Tesco’s new CEO Ken Murphy couldn’t be clearer. Tesco must drop forest destroyers altogether and stop selling industrial meat.’’

The driving force behind the campaign was the fire season in the Amazon, that had kicked off with worrying intensity, with the highest number recorded in August since 2007.

Many of the fires which are destroying the Amazon and other forests are started deliberately to clear land to graze cattle or grow soya.

Greenpeace UK want to protect the Amazon to avoid climate change, protect the homes of indigenous people and wildlife, and reduce the risk of future pandemics.

John added: "The Amazon is more than 5,000 miles away, but the products in our local Tesco and on our dinnerplates are fuelling rainforest destruction. I am reducing my meat consumption because I cannot keep eating products that I know have contributed to forest destruction, and therefore to the climate emergency.

"Please join me in eating less meat, and sign our petition to supermarket chains and fast food companies on cutting forest destroyers from their supply chains.’’

According to the environmental organisation, Tesco had previously vowed to end its part in deforestation for commodities such as soya by 2020, but in 2018 changed that goal to 2025 and still has not published a plan to show how this will be achieved.

They also noted that chicken and pork on its shelves is fed on Brazilian soya, and produced by companies owned by JBS, the world’s biggest meat packing company, which has been repeatedly linked to deforestation in the Amazon.

Other Tesco's were targeted in the protest, including those in Sheffield and Cardiff.

Greenpeace UK protested against supermarket giants Tesco and Sainsburies last year in a bid to ban the use of single-use plastics such as fruit carrier bags and wrapping on vegetables.

The supermarket chain have now said that they are committed to a 300 per cent increase in selling plant-based meat alternatives and stopped selling Brazilian beef.

A Tesco spokesperson said: “We share Greenpeace’s aim to end deforestation in the Amazon. It’s why we’ve set challenging public targets committing to zero deforestation, it’s why we’ve committed to a 300 per cent increase in the sales of plant-based meat alternatives, why we don’t sell Brazilian beef and why we support action to ensure all food sold in the UK is deforestation-free.”

Tesco recently led a coalition of organisations calling on the Government to strengthen its proposed new law aimed at tackling deforestation.

The Government’s proposed law will forbid large firms from using produce from illegally deforested land.

Tesco is now calling for the law to apply to all deforestation, including legal deforestation and not just where it has been defined as illegal in individual countries.

And in late 2019, in recognition of the threat of deforestation in the Cerrado region – from where Tesco sources 60 per cent of their Brazilian soy – the supermarket convened 150 companies in support of the Cerrado.

They became the first company to commit £10 million to the Cerrado Funding Coalition, which seeks to protect native vegetation and transition to producing soy only on existing agricultural land.

To sign the Greenpeace UK Petition click here.