Civil society organizations filed a lawsuit in France against the Casino Group, alleging that the retail chain sold beef linked to deforestation in Brazil and Colombia, sourced from JBS slaughterhouses. In the lawsuit, Indigenous peoples are seeking compensation for the damage caused to their traditional territories and the impact on their livelihoods.

Greenpeace International identified that cattle ranchers linked to the devastating fires of 2020 in the Pantanal have commercial relationships with JBS. At least 15 suppliers of cattle (2018-2019) to Brazil’s three largest meatpackers, including JBS, were linked to the fires. In the report, it is estimated that at least 73,000 hectares—an area larger than Singapore—were burned within the boundaries of these ranchers’ properties. Meat from the Pantanal was supplied to major food chains such as McDonald’s, Burger King, and the French groups Carrefour and Casino.

JBS suppliers raised cattle on the Pequizal do Naruvôtu Indigenous Land in Mato Grosso state, according to a study by Repórter Brasil. According to the report, the rancher responsible for selling the cattle had been fined R$10.9 million (approximately US$ 2.8 million at the time the fines were issued) by Ibama and was occupying nearly 10% of the total area of the Indigenous Land. The animals sold were registered as if they had come from a neighboring property, which had no environmental embargoes.

A report by Global Witness revealed that JBS purchased cattle from 177 ranches linked to illegal deforestation in 2017 and another 231 in 2018, all located in the state of Pará. According to the organization, flawed assessments conducted by the international audit firms DNV GL and Grant Thornton incorrectly indicated that the company was in compliance with its commitments, failing to identify a significant number of cases involving supply from deforested areas.

JBS may have been linked to up to 200,000 hectares of deforestation in its direct supply chain and 1.5 million hectares in its indirect supply chain in Brazil between 2008 and 2020, according to a conservative estimate by Chain Reaction Research. The consortium indicates that the actual figure could be even higher, as the estimate excludes two Amazonian states where JBS operates meatpacking plants.

HSBC stated that JBS “has no vision, action plan, timeline, technology, or solution” to monitor whether the cattle it purchases come from ranches involved in forest destruction, according to a report by The Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. The report indicates that HSBC analysts said they had questioned the company “several times” about its plan to address deforestation but were dissatisfied with the responses they received.

Illegal pastures linked to the JBS production chain were identified in three protected areas of Rondônia, according to an investigation by Amnesty International. The organization revealed that, in 2019, JBS purchased cattle directly from a farm located within the Ouro Preto River Extractive Reserve, and also identified indirect suppliers operating in the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau Indigenous Land and the Jacy-Paraná River Extractive Reserve.

A JBS truck appears to have transferred animals from a farm with a history of illegal deforestation to another with no record of environmental violations, according to an investigation by Repórter Brasil, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, and The Guardian. The investigation indicates that the vehicle transported cattle from a property fined R$2.2 million (around US$ 1 million at the time the fines were issued) for illegal deforestation to a “clean” farm that supplied JBS meatpacking facilities.