<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/05/letitia-james-jbs-meat-lawsuit-greenwashing>
"When the office of the New York attorney general, Letitia James, announced
that it would be suing the world’s largest meat company, JBS, for misleading
customers about its climate commitments, it caused a stir far beyond the world
of food. That’s because the suit’s impact has the potential to influence the
approach all kinds of big businesses take in their advertising about
sustainability, according to experts.
It’s just one in a string of greenwashing lawsuits being brought against large
airline, automobile and fashion companies of late. “It’s been 20 years of
companies lying about their environmental and climate justice impacts. And it
feels like all of a sudden, from Europe to the US, the crackdown is beginning
to happen,” said Todd Paglia, executive director of environmental non-profit
Stand.earth. “I think greenwash[ing] is actually one of the pivotal issues in
the next five years.”
Research suggests that citizens are increasingly demanding more sustainably
produced goods, and big businesses are taking note. But rather than actually
changing their practices, many instead turn to messaging that falsely implies
their products are better for the Earth than they actually are in order to keep
customers happy.
That’s what the attorney general has asserted that JBS – a parent company that
owns brands and subsidiaries like Swift, Pilgrim’s Pride and Grass Run Farms –
is doing. The legal complaint notes that “the JBS Group has made sweeping
representations to consumers about its commitment to reducing its greenhouse
gas emissions, claiming that it will be ‘Net Zero by 2040.’” But those claims
aren’t grounded in reality, the complaint goes on to argue, not only because
JBS isn’t taking concrete steps toward those goals, but because as recently as
September 2023, the CEO admitted in a public forum that the company didn’t even
know how to calculate all of its emissions. It follows that what can’t be
measured won’t be mitigated.
“Consumers are beginning to be aware of the fact that meat, and particularly
beef, has a very, very high climate impact. JBS is fully aware of this, and
trying to get ahead of that by telling consumers, ‘Oh, don’t worry, we’ve got
it under control,’” said Peter Lehner, managing attorney of the sustainable
food and farming program at Earthjustice. “But these emissions are so big and
so hard to abate that JBS’s actions don’t show that it’s plausible that they’ll
get to their claim.”"
Via
Fix the News:
<
https://fixthenews.com/good-news-on-marriage-equality-in-thailand-conservation-in-romania-and-reforestation-in-the-mediterranean/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
