UK retailers sold charcoal tied to Gran Chaco deforestation, report finds

Major British retailers, including B&Q and Waitrose, have been selling barbecue charcoal sourced from land cleared in Paraguay's Gran Chaco, according to an investigation published on Thursday by the advocacy group Global Witness.

The Gran Chaco is a sub-tropical dry forest spanning Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia, and is South America's second-largest forested region after the Amazon.

The report traces charcoal sold in UK supermarkets and hardware stores to the Paraguayan forestry company Taruma, described as the largest international supplier of the British barbecue brand Big K. Satellite analysis cited in the investigation found that Taruma sources wood from ranches that have cleared more than 28,000 hectares of forest since 2012 — an area larger than Malta.

A second supplier, Paben SA, which worked with Big K until 2023, has cleared roughly 2,700 hectares of forest in the Paraguayan Chaco since 2021, the report said.

Taruma denied wrongdoing. Chief Executive Rahmeen Farudi said the company does not clear forest and holds no clearing permits, adding that its operations do not contribute to deforestation or its effects on the regional climate. Paben SA, Waitrose, B&Q and Paraguay's National Forestry Institute did not respond to requests for comment. Britain's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs did not immediately respond.

Researchers, including NASA scientists, have said Paraguay has one of the world's highest deforestation rates relative to forest cover, driven largely by farming and cattle ranching. In July, Paraguay unveiled its first national forestry policy, acknowledging decades of state-driven deforestation for agriculture and pledging stricter environmental monitoring to meet EU trade standards.

Global Witness said both Paraguay's permissive environmental laws and what it called flawed UK legislation allow deforestation-linked charcoal to reach the British market. Britain's 2021 Environment Act bans imports linked to illegal deforestation, but applies only to products from illegally cleared land and does not cover charcoal. As a result, goods produced on legally cleared land in Paraguay can still enter the UK.

From December 30, the European Union will enforce stricter rules banning all products linked to deforested land, regardless of whether the clearing was legal.

The findings come as Paraguay seeks closer trade ties with Europe through the EU-Mercosur agreement. Environmental groups and several EU governments, including France, Austria and Poland, have warned that expanding the bloc's agricultural imports could accelerate deforestation in ecosystems such as the Gran Chaco. While Britain is no longer an EU member, the sale of environmentally questionable products there may complicate Paraguay's ambitions to sell other goods to Europe under an eventual Mercosur deal.