JBS’s Global Sustainability Director told Reuters that the company’s net-zero emissions by 2040 target was merely an “aspiration”, stating that “it was never a promise that JBS was going to make this happen.” In 2021, the company had announced this target as a “commitment” and a “promise,” but as the article revealed, Jason Weller clarified that it was not a formal commitment.
Ten workers were found in conditions analogous to slavery by labor inspectors at a JBS service provider in the town of Arvorezinha, in Rio Grande do Sul, according to the Labor Prosecutor’s Office (Ministério Público do Trabalho – MPT). The rescued workers were engaged in chicken picking—placing chickens into boxes and loading them onto trucks. According to the MPT, they were housed in precarious lodgings and had limited access to food.
A reassessment of 68 deforestation cases linked to JBS suppliers in Brazil, conducted by Mighty Earth, revealed that 22 of the 59 farms analyzed showed an increase in deforestation after the initial detection of forest loss. In addition, the study indicates that another 37 cases associated with JBS’s supply chain accounted for an additional 60,218 hectares of deforested land up to September 2023.
JBS is the meat processor with the greatest exposure to deforestation risk, according to Global Canopy. The organization estimates that the company’s supply chain is linked to an area of 805,370 hectares of recently deforested land.
Four members of the European Parliament questioned the European Commission about JBS’s alleged greenwashing, referencing a complaint filed in New York over “unproven and misleading” claims regarding the company’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2040. The Commission responded that it “is aware of the allegations against JBS, as well as of the multiple negative impacts that misleading green claims have on consumers and on businesses making genuine efforts to improve their sustainability.”
An investigation by Unearthed, Greenpeace UK’s investigative journalism arm, revealed that JBS purchased cattle more than 100 times from a ranch that was fined nearly £2 million for illegally destroying unique and vulnerable areas of the Pantanal. According to an analysis by AidEnvironment, Fazenda Querência deforested a total of 50 square kilometers of native vegetation between 2019 and 2023—an area equivalent to half the size of Paris. As revealed by the investigation, between 2018 and 2023, JBS’s own transparency platform recorded 112 cattle purchases made by its two meatpacking plants in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), directly from the ranch.
According to Folha de São Paulo, Ibama fined JBS R$615,500 (around US$ 108,000 at the time the fines were issued) for selling cattle from illegally deforested areas. The violations were identified at the company’s meatpacking plant in Tucumã, Pará (PA), during Operation Carne Fria 2.
As reported by Reuters, the fast food chain McDonald’s has sued JBS, Tyson Foods and other leading companies in the meat processing and packing sector. According to the complaint, the companies coordinated for years to restrict the supply of meat in the market, artificially inflating prices. The lawsuit is being heard in a U.S. federal court.
Greenpeace Nordic estimates that JBS’s methane emissions rival those of ExxonMobil and Shell combined.According to the report, if JBS were a fossil fuel company, it would rank as the fifth-largest methane emitter in the world, releasing an estimated 4.52 million tons of CH₄ per year.
An investigation by Mighty Earth revealed that 27 JBS meatpacking plants—supplying major retailers such as Carrefour, Casino, Grupo Mateus, and Sendas/Assaí supermarkets in Brazil—were linked to nearly 470,000 hectares of deforestation in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes between 2009 and 2023. This deforested area is equivalent to seven times the size of London.
