Meat giant sparks debate over whether net-zero commitment is a “promise” or just an “aspiration”

JBS rejects ‘any assertion’ of lowered ambition despite CSO saying climate pledge ‘was never a promise’

Meat producer JBS has insisted that comments by its chief sustainability officer on the status of its net zero pledge do not signal a change in its climate ambitions.

Speaking to Reuters this week, Jason Weller described the company’s pledge to reach net zero by 2040 as an “aspiration”. 

“It was never a promise that JBS was going to make this happen,” he is reported to say, stressing that the goal relies on the decarbonisation of the firm’s supply chain, which it cannot control. 

The Brazilian meat giant has boasted about the fact it was the first among its peers to commit to net zero, noting in its 2021 sustainability report that its 2040 targets were “ten years ahead” of most other companies and governments.

That document describes the goal as a “pledge” and a “commitment”, rather than just an aspiration. 

By the time it published its 2023 sustainability report, JBS had added in a disclaimer around its net-zero plans. 

“Whether the company is successful in achieving [its] very ambitious goal will depend on numerous factors outside of the company’s control,” it wrote. 

“Including but not limited to: legal and regulatory changes by local governments, technological innovations and infrastructures, energy advancements, economic and environmental conditions, climate change impacts, force majeures, social and cultural factors, international agreements and global trends, financial markets, collaborations and partnerships, and the resources and efforts of those in our value chains.” 

“Because of these variables, among others, the company may not be able to achieve net zero by 2040,” the statement concluded. 

In March 2024, JBS was among the 239 companies removed from the Science Based Targets initiative’s platform, for either failing to meet the deadline to set full net-zero targets for their value chains, or because they opted to use a different standard.

REP asked JBS to clarify whether it still considers itself to have a commitment to reach net-zero by 2040, or whether it plans to drop the targets.  

A spokesperson said the firm “takes its commitment to a more sustainable future for agriculture very seriously, and our climate ambitions have not changed.”

“Any assertion otherwise is completely untrue.”