A group of 12 UK Parliamentarians is expected to deliver a letter to the chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to block the listing of JBS SA to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
The motivation cited by the group is that JBS “has a well-documented history of engaging in deforestation, violating human rights, and seizing land from Indigenous communities”.
In December 2023, it was reported that 3 lawsuits were filed against JBS and others, accusing JBS of purchasing cattle raised in one of the Amazon’s illegally deforested areas, the Jaci-Paraná Extractive Reserve. This protected area has already lost 77% of its forest cover since 1996.
Before that, in 2022, an investigation found that nearly 17% of the cattle purchased by JBS in Para state, Brazil, originated from illegally deforested areas. This practice is devastating for nature, as it suffers the double adverse impact of deforestation and loss of biodiversity.
The UK lawmakers aren’t the first group who is attempting to block JBS’ listing on the NYSE. ‘Drop JBS’ is a movement supported by Greenpeace UK, Mighty Earth, Feedback, and BankTrack. It has compiled information on JBS’ adverse impact on the environment and its greenwashing practices. Drop JBS states that “JBS is the highest emitting meat and dairy company in the world, with a carbon footprint estimated to be larger than Spain’s”.
As part of its ‘net zero strategy’, JBS aims to “[e]liminate illegal deforestation from our Brazilian cattle supply chain” by 2025. Explaining what the company is already doing to aid the environment, JBS states that, since, 2009, it has monitored its suppliers “to prevent illegal deforestation, use of slave labor, invasion of indigenous lands, quilombola settlements or environmental conservation units, among other socio-environmental criteria”. They use satellite images and blockchain technology.
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