By Patrick Thomas Updated Feb. 29, 2024 12:35 pm ET The Wall Street Journal
Suit comes as Brazil-based JBS pursues an NYSE listing; meat giant has committed to net-zero carbon emissions by 2040
New York’s top lawyer filed a lawsuit accusing JBS JBSAY 3.33%increase; green up pointing triangle, the world’s largest meatpacker, of lying about its impact on the environment to win over climate-conscious customers.
New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday sued the Brazilian meat giant’s U.S. division, saying that JBS misled consumers with its climate goals, including its plan to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, to boost sales.
“JBS USA’s environmental greenwashing exploits the pocketbooks of everyday Americans and the promise of a healthy planet for future generations,” said James in a statement.
A JBS spokeswoman said JBS takes its commitment to a sustainable future for agriculture seriously and disagrees with the New York attorney general’s office.
“JBS will continue to partner with farmers, ranchers and our food system partners around the world to help feed a growing population while using fewer resources and reducing agriculture’s environmental impact,” she said.
The New York lawsuit spotlights the meat company’s climate goals and practices that have long been criticized by environmental groups. The lawsuit also comes as environmentalists have joined to oppose the company’s planned listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
JBS is one of the top meat suppliers in the U.S. with the capacity to process more than 200,000 cattle, 500,000 hogs and 45 million chickens a week.
About half of the company’s nearly $80 billion in annual revenue comes from its U.S. operations, which are based in Colorado. About a quarter of its revenue comes from Brazil, according to recent securities filings.
The company began as a family-owned slaughterhouse in the Brazilian countryside. It has invested billions of dollars to acquire meat companies in the U.S. and elsewhere over the past two decades, including beef processor Swift Foods and a majority stake in the second-largest U.S. chicken producer, Pilgrim’s Pride.
Globally, JBS has more than 260,000 employees with operations stretching from Australia to South America. It is also a major processor of seafood and lamb.
For years, environmentalists have accused the company of having links to deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, and some have publicly lobbied for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to deny JBS’s New York listing. A bipartisan group of senators penned a letter last month asking the SEC to closely scrutinize the company’s environmental record.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday alleged that JBS’s net-zero commitment isn’t attainable because of the amount of carbon emissions that come from beef production, including methane produced by the animals. The agriculture industry has come under increased environmental scrutiny in recent years for the greenhouse-gas emissions that come from producing crops and livestock.
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