Study shows link between companies that devastate the Amazon rainforest and tax havens.

OSLO (Reuters) - Scientists on Monday called for greater transparency regarding the use of tax havens by companies involved in activities that have harmed the world's oceans and the Amazon rainforest.

In a study published in the scientific journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, they stated that many firms involved in illegal fishing worldwide used tax havens to register their vessels, and that investments in agriculture that damaged the rainforest often originate from accounts in these locations.

The study comes in the wake of the 2015 Panama Papers leak, which revealed how wealthy individuals and companies use schemes in tax havens to reduce their tax bills.

Seventy percent of fishing vessels involved in illegal, unreported, or unregulated activities were registered at some point in these destinations, most notably Belize and Panama, the scientists wrote in the journal. In contrast, only about four percent of all fishing vessels registered worldwide sail under the flags of tax havens, they said.

Scientists also cited documents from the Central Bank of Brazil that revealed that nearly 70 percent of foreign capital invested by large companies in soybean planting or beef cattle farming in the country – or $18,4 billion out of a total of $26,9 billion – came from tax havens between 2000 and 2011.

The clearing of vegetation to open up soy and cattle ranches was a "crucial driver of deforestation," especially in the early years of the period, they said. Most of the funding for soy and cattle came from the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, and the Netherlands.

"In the case of fish farms... there are examples of the illegal use of tax havens. We are talking about tax evasion," the study's lead author, Victor Galaz of Stockholm University, told Reuters.

In comparison, Galaz said there is nothing illegal about using tax havens to funnel money to farms in Brazil, but added that this can sometimes act as an indirect subsidy for environmentally damaging practices.

The report did not mention fishing companies, but the scientists wrote to companies listed in documents from the Brazilian Central Bank, which showed that Cargill and Bunge have the largest amounts of loans or money flowing through tax havens.

Both companies stated they are committed to protecting the environment and supported a soy moratorium in Brazil in 2006, which prohibits the purchase of recently deforested areas.

"We do not 'hide' profits or money in tax havens," a Cargill representative wrote to the authors. "Our company is subject in the U.S. to full disclosure of all our activities and bank accounts associated with non-U.S. companies."

Cargill told Reuters that it had nothing to add to that statement.

"Our goal is to build sustainable and deforestation-free supply chains," a Bunge spokesperson wrote in an email to Reuters, reaffirming comments the company sent to the authors.