Discreetly, JBS backed away from its commitment to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, weakening its climate objectives. The news was announced without the fanfare of five years ago, when the promise was made by the company. The abandonment of the climate target is included in the animal protein giant's sustainability report, published last week.
JBS abandons net-zero emissions target
Discreetly, JBS backed away from its commitment to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, weakening its climate objectives. The news was announced without the fanfare of five years ago, when the promise was made by...
According to the company, the decline is due to difficulties in controlling indirect emissions, known as Scope 3, which includes the supply chain and accounts for the majority of its carbon footprint. Now, JBS will focus on reducing its direct emissions (Scopes 1 and 2), which represent a measly 3% of its total emissions.
"Bold ambition is great, but now you need to have really good, measurable goals with proven results. And that's what we're doing – we're setting goals that we believe are possible to achieve and over which we have operational control," JBS sustainability director Jason Weller told the Financial Times.
The company also dropped its objective of investing US$100 million (R$512 million) in research and development aimed at reducing Scope 3 emissions. According to Weller, these resources will be incorporated into JBS's operations through direct programs, including an initiative aimed at small producers in complying with environmental legislation and adopting regenerative production practices, reports CNN Brasil.
The setbacks take place in a context of systematic weakening of the climate objectives of large companies in the main sectors with the heaviest carbon footprint, especially in the energy segment – in which J&F, the controlling shareholder of JBS, also operates, through Âmbar.
As Capital Reset pointed out, JBS had been signaling the formal abandonment of the net-zero commitment since last year, classifying it as a mere “aspiration”. “It was never a promise that JBS was going to make this happen,” Weller said in an interview at the time.
Promise or not, the festive net-zero announcement was the target of a complaint by the advocacy organization Mighty Earth in the United States Court, which accused JBS of greenwashing. For the entity, the company obtained gains by issuing bonds linked to sustainability goals in 2021, when it announced the commitment, without taking measures to effectively fulfill it.
In addition to achieving net-zero emissions by 2040, the original goal was to eliminate illegal deforestation from the Amazon supply chain by 2025. Despite not being included in the sustainability report, the company stated that this second objective would have been met. However, last October, IBAMA fined the company for purchasing cattle raised in illegally deforested areas in the Amazon.
Folha, Globo Rural and Mercado Monitor also echoed JBS's retreat.
Source:
ClimaInfo
