Scandal-hit Batista brothers back on JBS board
Link to new report and deforestation cases
JBS shareholders have voted to return scandal-hit Joesley and Wesley Batista to the board of Brazilian meat giant, JBS S.A at a shareholder meeting in São Paulo on 26 April.
The vote in favor of the putting the Batista’s back on the board, follows an earlier vote this week, indicating that a considerable number of JBS investors had rejected the resolutions to allow the brothers to return.
It comes as Might Earth releases new analysis showing the failure of JBS to act on 68 cases of deforestation on 59 cattle farms in the Amazon and Cerrado, covering more than 125,000 hectares linked to JBS’s beef supply chain. JBS refused to act or investigate, leading to a further 18,458 hectares of preventable destruction of crucial rainforest and natural ecosystems on 22 of the 59 farms. Of the 22 farms, four border or overlap with protected Indigenous Lands. In March of this year, Mighty Earth sent JBS an additional 37 cases of deforestation and conversion in the Amazon and Cerrado, covering 60,218 hectares on farms linked to JBS. Combining last year’s analysis with new research this year, we have identified a total of 105 deforestation cases linked to JBS’ beef supply chain in Brazil, covering over 185,000 hectares of deforestation.
Alex Wijeratna, Senior Director at Mighty Earth, said:
“This is a bad day for climate and nature. Voting the scandal-hit Batista brothers back onto the JBS board means they have more power to continue laying waste to the Amazon and the Cerrado for their massive meat operations. Our new research shows them doing just that and continued failure to act on deforestation. If JBS get the green light to list on the New York Stock Exchange, the Batista brothers could have almost total control of the company. We urge the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission to consider the impact on people and planet and to block JBS’ proposed New York listing.”
Image credit: CC BY 4.0 DEED Attribution 4.0 International
