Mighty Earth responds to JBS’ claim that it never promised to be Net Zero by 2040

Brazilian meat giant JBS has claimed that the company’s net-zero emissions pledge was “never a promise” and that it only has an “aspiration” to be Net Zero by 2040.  As recently as 2023, JBS insisted it was “committed” to achieving Net Zero emissions across its global supply chains. In the same year, the company’s CEO, Gilberto Tomazoni also reiterated its “pledge” on the 2040 target. The company also made the extraordinary admission that it has “zero operational, contractual or legal control of its supply chain.”

Responding, Glenn Hurowitz, CEO at Mighty Earth said:

“JBS’ comments are a clumsy attempt to evade any accountability and to wash its hands for its outsized impact on the planet, and its failure to deliver on its clear commitments. For JBS to focus on the three percent of its environmental impact that comes from internal operations, and not the 97% that comes from the meat it sources is a clear sign that it is still not taking its impact on forests or climate seriously.”

“JBS still doesn’t seem to particularly care where its meat comes from, or how it’s produced. The company’s admission that it doesn’t control its supply chain, even as competitors are making progress, shows why the US Securities and Exchange Commission shouldn’t allow this reckless company to access US capital markets through an IPO.”

“Given the extreme fires, droughts and floods that Brazil experienced last year, there is no time left for “aspiration” as JBS puts it.  It’s clear the company is hellbent on continuing business as usual, but to tackle the climate and nature crisis what’s needed is urgent action to stop deforestation and take the critical steps to reduce methane emissions, particularly from livestock agriculture.”

Notes to Editor:

• Mighty Earth’s Soy & Cattle Deforestation Tracker showed JBS was potentially linked to over 118,310 hectares of deforestation between February 2022 and July 2024. JBS also scored last place on the deforestation scorecard.
• Mighty Earth’s litany of failure on JBS here.
• In JBS’ 2023 Climate Change CDP disclosure, JBS stated that it considered its Net Zero by 2040 target to be ‘science-based’. In March 2024, JBS failed to have its Net Zero plans validated by the SBTi and it was removed from the website.
• During a broadcast interview at The New York Times “Climate Forward” event in New York on September 21, 2023, Global CEO of JBS, Gilberto Tomazoni, was asked by the moderator and The New York Times journalist David Gelles about JBS’s appalling record on Amazon deforestation and Mr. Tomazoni said, “We are zero tolerance from deforestation.” In the same interview, he said: “We pledge to be Net Zero in 2040, and not 2050, because we believe, we recognize, the emergency of that.”  Link to interview here.
• JBS Sustainability-Linked Bond framework (2021) in which it refers to its 2040 Net Zero commitment, here.
• JBS confirm in its 2023 Sustainability Report (p.32) that its Scope 3 emissions account for 97% of its total emissions, see here.
• JBS’s estimated methane emissions exceed those of carbon majors ExxonMobil and Shell, and exceed the combined methane emissions of France, Germany, Canada, and New Zealand.
• JBS is set on growing its vast global meat empire by seeking to list on the New York Stock Exchange and access billions to fuel its expansion. Just last year, the Brazilian meat giant announced plans to open six meat-processing facilities in Nigeria.
• JBS is being sued by New York’s Attorney General for its misleading net zero claims. The suit alleges that JBS “has had no viable plan” to meet its Net Zero by 2040 pledge, and highlights how an industry monitor, the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau, concluded that JBS’ “Net Zero by 2040” pledge was unsubstantiated and misleading and warned the company to halt its campaign to deceive the public.