Trading on the world's largest exchange would give JBS access to more capital and enhance its credibility. But the lawmakers, along with environmental groups, argue that expanded capital would allow the company, responsible for much deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, to do even more harm.
The dispute surrounding JBS’ bid highlights the connection between finance and various drivers of climate change, including deforestation. It also raises questions about gauging claims that a company is committed to improving its environmental record.
Many companies listed on the
“Dozens of journalistic and NGO reports have shown that JBS is linked to more destruction of forests and other ecosystems than any other company in Brazil,” said the letter from 15 U.S. senators, released last week. "The company has made repeated claims that it will eliminate deforestation but has not taken meaningful steps to do so.”
The letter, signed by
A spokesperson for the
Two-thirds of Amazon deforestation results from conversion to pasture for livestock, according to the Brazilian government. JBS, with the largest slaughter capacity in the region, buys thousands of cows raised illegally annually, according to audits by federal prosecutors.
In December, The Associated Press and Brazil’s Agencia Publica revealed that
JBS has pledged to make all cattle purchases traceable by 2025 and to reach net zero, or equalize all carbon emissions, by 2040.
In 2020, it created the JBS Fund For the Amazon. The goal is to finance “innovative, long-term initiatives that build on
Since then, the fund has provided
The initiatives include cocoa farming integrated with trees; managed fishing of pirarucu, a giant freshwater fish; and support for the Forest Peoples Connection, which has been installing Starlink internet units donated by Elon Musk´s
It also granted money to two
The contributions are tiny for the company. From 2021 through the last quarter of 2023, JBS net sales approached
The
A previous JBS attempt to join the exchange was thwarted amid a corruption scandal in 2017 when the company admitted the bribery of hundreds of Brazilian politicians. In 2020, JBS paid the
As JBS' application is considered, a prominent adviser who backed the sustainability fund is having second thoughts.
Nobre also sits on JBS' board and said he's been disillusioned with the company's launch of a project intended to support 3,500 small livestock-producing families in the Amazon. JBS Sustainability Director Liège Correia promoted the project at the
“I only joined the fund because I was assured there would be no money for livestock. Now they changed their minds,” he told AP.
Supporting small ranchers to increase their productivity helps preserve the Amazon, according to
“We have done tests and seen that the fund can work with cleared areas, too. Because if you take good care of these areas, you prevent people cutting down more forest,” Azevedo told AP. “We need to stop Amazon deforestation altogether, that's a fact.”
Azevedo worked most of her career with environmental groups and said she respects Nobre's position, but other board members agreed with the fund in supporting cattle ranching. It's a place for experimentation, independent of JBS business strategy, she said.
Azevedo said the meat giant’s efforts to improve its environmental record are genuine. For example, it is trying to identify cattle suppliers who conceal the illegal origin of animals and opening “green offices” to provide technical assistance in compliance with environmental legislation.
“If JBS gains access to billions of dollars to expand its industrial meat operations, it would bring more deforestation, more market manipulation, more human rights abuses and more outsized climate pollution," he said. "The
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