At the bottom of every supply chain there is a place. An illegal gold pit in Peru's rainforest. A mine where nobody writes down who's holding the shovel.
It widens from there — the pit, then the river that carries off the mercury, then the town that drinks from the river, then the buyer who took the gold, the brand that took the buyer, and the bank that financed every link without once asking a name.
Europe built laws that followed the money down into that mud, past the trader in a clean shirt and the refinery and the smelter, all the way to the pit — and this February, Brussels gutted them. Reporting now binds only firms with 1,000-plus employees and €450 million in turnover. Roughly 80% cut loose. Due diligence shrinks to 5,000-worker, €1.5 billion giants, not until 2029, with the climate-transition-plan duty deleted outright. They crammed a ten-working-day review into 24 hours. Over a weekend. While 360-plus groups begged for suspension.
Brussels calls it simplification. A chainsaw simplifies a forest, too.
"The land keeps receipts
... show moreAt the bottom of every supply chain there is a place. An illegal gold pit in Peru's rainforest. A mine where nobody writes down who's holding the shovel.
It widens from there — the pit, then the river that carries off the mercury, then the town that drinks from the river, then the buyer who took the gold, the brand that took the buyer, and the bank that financed every link without once asking a name.
Europe built laws that followed the money down into that mud, past the trader in a clean shirt and the refinery and the smelter, all the way to the pit — and this February, Brussels gutted them. Reporting now binds only firms with 1,000-plus employees and €450 million in turnover. Roughly 80% cut loose. Due diligence shrinks to 5,000-worker, €1.5 billion giants, not until 2029, with the climate-transition-plan duty deleted outright. They crammed a ten-working-day review into 24 hours. Over a weekend. While 360-plus groups begged for suspension.
Brussels calls it simplification. A chainsaw simplifies a forest, too.
"The land keeps receipts even when Brussels shreds them — mercury settles into a Peruvian riverbed whether or not anybody files a report."
But a river doesn't read thresholds.
Downstream.
If you live in the EU, call your MEP. Anywhere else, ask your bank whether it still screens suppliers past the first tier. Two minutes.
Today's Gathering → thistleandmoss.com/p/the-crapt…
#Climate #Environment #Nature #Rivers #Rainforest #Peru #Mining #Gold #SupplyChain #HumanRights #CorporateAccountability #EU #Brussels #Journalism
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Wendy Weber (Wendy The Druid)
