Judge Cargill on Implementation, Not Commitments

Agribusiness giant Cargill recently made a pledge regarding greenhouse gas emissions from its beef operations in North America. In response to this latest announcement, Mighty Earth CEO Glenn Hurowitz released the following statement:

“Once again, Cargill’s executives and PR teams have gotten the headlines they wanted after a splashy announcement. But as we documented in our recent report, Cargill: The Worst Company in the World, Cargill’s big announcements are too often just a prelude to failure and disappointment.

“In this case, Cargill’s commitment seems bogus on its face. Rather than committing to actually cutting its climate impact, Cargill is just committing to reducing the ‘intensity’ of its emissions. In contrast, Smithfield Pork has committed to reduce absolute emissions by 25 percent by 2025, a real goal that they’re well on their way to achieving. Meanwhile, Cargill continues to drive large-scale destruction of native habitat and water and climate pollution throughout its meat supply chain.

“Time and time again, Cargill has proven to be either unwilling or too incompetent to make the modest improvements needed to put their business on a sustainable trajectory, and the promised changes never arrive.

“In 2014, Cargill pledged to great fanfare to end deforestation from the production of key agricultural commodities by 2020. Now that 2020 is just around the corner, they have admitted that goal will not be met and pledged only half measures in response. This is simply how they operate.

“At this point, it’s irresponsible to take Cargill at their word. Cargill should be judged on implementation, not commitments. In the face of our planet’s urgent climate crisis, more empty promises are simply not enough.”