Dive Brief:
- JBS USA, the U.S. subsidiary of the world’s largest beef and poultry producer, will invest $1.1 million in climate-smart agriculture for New York farmers to end an investigation and settle a lawsuit alleging the company’s net-zero claims were misleading, New York Attorney General Leticia James announced Monday.
- Under the settlement, JBS has agreed to frame its 2040 net-zero target as a “goal” rather than a “commitment” or “pledge;” the company’s site now calls the target an “ambition.” Additionally, the firm will define any steps it’s taking when issuing consumer-facing statements that say the company is “taking real acting” or similar language, according to the agreement.
- James filed a lawsuit against JBS in February 2024, alleging that the company was misleading consumers about its greenhouse gas reduction efforts. The New York AG alleged in the suit that the meatpacker had “no viable plan” to reach its 2040 net-zero goal.
Dive Insight:
JBS filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in May 2024, and the New York State Supreme Court dismissed the suit without prejudice in January, giving James’ office leave to refile the claim. James’ office issued an investigative subpoena to JBS USA in February, following the dismissal, and Monday’s settlement said the AG’s will accept the agreement’s relief and assurances in lieu of filing an amended complaint at this time.
The settlement directs JBS USA to give $1.1 million to the New York soil health resilience program at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to support “climate-smart agriculture,” subject to approval by JBS and Cornell’s gift acceptance committee. The donation is also subject to Cornell and the attorney general’s office reaching an agreement to have an AG representative on the soil health resilience program’s steering or advisory committee, according to the settlement.
“New Yorkers deserve the truth when it comes to the environmental impact of the products they buy,” James said in the release. “JBS USA made sweeping promises about its parent company’s climate impacts despite the company having no real plan to back those promises up.”
JBS USA made a “commitment to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040” in March 2021 and communicated that intent to the Science Based Targets initiative, which validates corporate targets. However, the AG’s office found that the company had not developed a detailed plan to reach that goal or assessed its economic feasibility before communicating it publicly, according to the settlement.
The AG’s investigation found that JBS and SBTi were ultimately unable to agree on the methodology and standards involved in the process, and after SBTi denied an extension request by JBS, the meat processor withdrew from the validation process. Under the agreement, JBS USA neither admitted nor denied the investigation’s findings.
In addition to adjusting the way it communicates the 2040 target, JBS will have to annually conduct a review of its consumer-facing statements and documents relating to the goal for three years. The company will be required to share those reports with the attorney general’s office, the agreement said.
