In the autumn of 2020, a coalition of French and Brazilian Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) took legal action against the French-owned retail giant Groupe Casino, claiming the company had failed its ‘duty of vigilance’ by selling products linked to deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. In this presentation, I will shed light on the work conducted by the members of the coalition to prove that the French multinational contributed to deforestation in the Amazon basin by sourcing beef from slaughterhouses that do not monitor the environmental practices of their suppliers. This case-study underscores the complexities and uncertainties associated with gathering evidence for a lawsuit that is not only transnational but also addresses an environmental issue that is highly fragmented and diffuse. My findings underscore the importance of legal mechanisms in addressing complex environmental issues and highlights the role of transnational cooperation in holding corporations accountable for their environmental impact. The presentation invites scholars and practitioners to engage in a critical discussion on the effectiveness of existing legal frameworks in addressing environmental issues and exploring potential avenues for reform.

Pierre-Louis Choquet is a sociologist at the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), with research interests at the intersection of science and technology studies & critical theory. Having worked several years on the French oil & gas industry - assessing its historical response to global warming and analyzing the ordinary business of extraction from close-up - he has turned his attention to Brazilian agri-business chains, whose enormous deforestation footprint raises global concern. From one fieldwork to another, his research is motivated by understanding and critiquing the multifaceted reality of global capitalism in a time of planetary devastation.