News Summary

  • JBS, the world's largest beef and poultry producer, will no longer commit to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its supply chain and global operations by 2040.
  • The meat giant announced this change in its latest sustainability report released on Wednesday. The updated sustainability strategy also no longer includes a target for reducing Scope 3 emissions—the indirect greenhouse gas emissions generated throughout its supply chain.
  • Instead, JBS will focus on cutting Scope 1 and 2 emissions (i.e., direct emissions), which account for only about 3% of the company's overall carbon footprint. Scope 3 emissions make up the vast majority of its emissions: last year, the company generated over 184 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent Scope 3 emissions.

In-Depth Analysis

In a statement accompanying the sustainability report released on July 8, JBS's global chief sustainability officer, Jason Weller, said the company was not "shying away from the challenges and opportunities presented by climate change" but rather "sharpening its climate goals."

The company set near-term targets: to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions from core operations by 30% by 2030, using 2019 as the baseline; and a long-term goal of reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 70% by 2050. The company defines direct operational emissions as those arising from energy and fuel use, refrigerants, and waste at its global facilities and plants.

Weller said in the statement that the 2040 net-zero goal JBS set five years ago faced numerous challenges during implementation.

"The more we delved into execution, the clearer it became that a net-zero goal spanning hundreds of thousands of independent agricultural producers across dozens of countries and tens of millions of hectares—each with different practices, different baselines, and lacking standardized measurement infrastructure—was a monumental challenge," Weller said. "Achieving a system-wide goal at such a scale depends on data, producer adoption, technology, and measurement infrastructure that are still evolving in global agriculture."

JBS's 2040 net-zero goal and its broader emissions reduction strategy have also faced legal scrutiny in the past.

In 2024, the New York State Attorney General sued JBS, accusing the meat processor of misleading consumers about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and claiming JBS had "no viable plan" to achieve its 2040 net-zero emissions goal. At the time, New York Attorney General Letitia James said the company deceived consumers through large-scale advertising touting its environmental commitments.

The Brazil-based meat producer settled those allegations in November 2025, agreeing to invest $1.1 million in climate-smart agriculture in the state. Under the settlement, JBS also agreed to describe the now-withdrawn 2040 goal as an "aspiration" rather than a "commitment" or "guarantee."