Global food and beverage manufacturer JBS has committed to “net-zero emissions” by 2040. Its impressive five-step plan includes $1 billion of infrastructure investments, $100 million of R&D and 100% renewable electricity. There’s only one little problem: experts say it’s not going to happen.
In a lawsuit filed in February 2024, New York Attorney General Letitia James states that not only does JBS not have a plan for how to achieve its five lofty goals, but there’s no way to “feasibly” achieve them without “a costly undertaking of an unprecedented degree.” And James isn’t the first to raise an alarm. A year earlier, the non-profit Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) recommended that JBS – – the world’s #1 producer of animal protein – – stop using such bold sustainability claims. Months later, the BBB’s National Advertising Review Board (NARB) panel also agreed that JBS should cut it out.
In short, the defendant says it’s trying, while the plaintiff and various watchdog organizations say JBS is really just BS.
Are the greenhouse gas emission promises on your grass-fed beef worth more than a pinky promise? It’s up to the Supreme Court of New York to decide now.