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NGO Mighty Earth alleges 2040 net-zero target misleading

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Case filed in DC court; New York AG to refile similar

claim

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NGO reports Barclays ( BCS ) to UK watchdog for 'facilitating' JBS

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Latest challenges come ahead of COP30 climate talks

By Simon Jessop, Kirstin Ridley and Luciana Magalhaes

LONDON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Brazil's JBS has

been accused of making false climate claims in a U.S. lawsuit

filed by advocacy group Mighty Earth, a fresh legal challenge

for the world's biggest meatpacker ahead of global climate talks

in its home country in November.

The lawsuit against JBS's U.S. unit is the latest in a

string of cases against companies over allegations of

"greenwashing", including a successful challenge to oil major

TotalEnergies in a French court last week.

The case, filed with the District of Columbia Superior Court

in Washington, comes days before New York Attorney General

Letitia James is scheduled to submit an amended complaint in a

similar case.

'MATERIAL OMISSIONS' ALLEGED

Mighty Earth alleges JBS made deceptive claims about its

commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2040 and that

"material omissions" about the environmental harm caused by its

operations violated the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act.

"We're challenging JBS USA's climate claims to be 'net zero

by 2040' as false and misleading," said Alex Wijeratna, Mighty

Earth's senior director of investigations and law, noting the

company had no credible plan to tackle supply chain emissions.

JBS said it "categorically rejects" claims suggesting its

sustainability goals were misleading or that financing was

obtained under false pretences and that it was making measurable

progress in addressing climate change.

"Our actions are guided by science, transparency, and

accountability, and we remain focused on delivering measurable,

meaningful progress toward a more sustainable global food

system," it said in a statement.

JBS's chief sustainability officer told Reuters in January

that its "net zero by 2040" goal was an aspiration, not a

promise, although the company told Reuters in a written

statement at the time that its climate ambitions were unchanged.

The advocacy group told Reuters it had also sent Britain's

financial regulator a complaint about alleged misconduct by

Barclays ( BCS ) because it underwrote $3 billion of JBS-issued

sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) in 2021, which were

"misleading".

JBS said that such bonds were tied to verified performance

targets, with progress transparently disclosed and audited

annually.

Barclays ( BCS ) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which

said in August it was monitoring the market for

sustainability-labelled products, declined to comment.

Mighty Earth alleges in its lawsuit that JBS USA's SLBs,

issued shortly after it set its net-zero goal in 2021, allowed

it to profit from its deception by securing low borrowing costs.

The separate complaint against Barclays ( BCS ) is the latest

challenge to banks over their duties of care, risk controls and

roles as gatekeepers to financial markets and climate targets.

ING was sued in March over its financing of

fossil-fuel companies and climate and human-rights activists

filed a similar case against BNP Paribas in 2023.

(Additional reporting by Nate Raymond and Alexia Garamfalvi

Editing by Tomasz Janowski)