A group of global investors and businesses, including Tesco, Mars and Sainsbury's, have signed a letter calling for the Brazilian Government and president Jair Bolsonaro to support a voluntary agreement that has limited deforestation from soy production in the country

The three British grocers signed a letter, alongside 64 other firms, calling for the extension of the Amazon soy moratorium banning companies from using newly cleared land for soy production.

Other signatories to the letter include retailers such as Aldi, Asda, Carrefour, Iceland, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and Morrisons.

The letter said: “Our position is clear: we want to be able to continue to source from, or invest in, the Brazilian soy industry but if the ASM is not maintained, this will risk our business with Brazilian soy,” the letter states.

“Today, there is enough existing agricultural land to continue to increase soy production in the Amazon by an additional 600% compared to current figures. We look forward to supporting Brazilian partners to continue their leadership and show that economic development and environmental protection can go hand in hand.””

Peter Andrews, head of sustainability at the British Retail Consortium said: “Customers expect the products they buy not to harm the environment, and retailers invest heavily in their supply chains to deliver that as far as possible.”

The Brazilian soy farmers’ association Aprosoja, who in the past have claimed to have Bolsonaro's backing, came under heavy criticism from overseas for their campaign to end a voluntary ban on trading crops harvested from newly cleared land.

There were widespread concerns that some of the recent fires in the Amazon rainforest had been started intentionally in order to clear land for farmers to grow crops or feed cattle. Especially worrying was a call from the president himself for increased economic development of the Amazon regardless of the loss of vital rainforest.