Those of us in the United States mostly know New York Attorney General Letitia James from her winning a fraud suit against Donald Trump, et al.

However, a more important action on her part, for all of us on this planet, is this lawsuit against JBS USA Food Company et al. 

The key difference in this suit versus most greenwashing suits is that it is preemptive, in that it anticipates a future failure to deliver and is pursuing action today against that assumption. 

In effect, without conducting a carbon footprint baseline assessment (to determine what its carbon emissions levels are), JBS has made claims that it will become Net Zero by 2040, sixteen years from now.  Further, again, without knowing where they are today, they claim they will reduce their carbon emissions by 30% by 2030, six years from now. 

Just like if I would say I am going to lose 10 pounds before summer, I would need to know how much I weigh today, the James suit states that the JBS claims have no foundational starting point and are therefore pure greenwashing. 

That’s an amazingly aggressive position to take and should send a cold chill through thousands of other companies that have, likewise, made Net Zero claims with no foundational basis.

In the suit, James says

“Consumers worldwide are increasingly concerned about their impact on the environment and put greater trust in companies and brands that pledge to be sustainable or climate conscious. Recent studies have shown that people are influenced by a company’s environmental reputation and are willing to change their habits to switch to more environmentally friendly products: more than two-thirds of American adults are willing to pay more for sustainable products. JBS Group and JBS USA have used greenwashing and misleading statements to capitalize on consumers’ increasing desire to make environmentally friendly choices, claiming:

  • “Agriculture can be part of the climate solution. Bacon, chicken wings, and steak with net zero emissions. It’s possible.”
  • “We will cut our own emissions by 30% in 2030 and eliminate Amazon deforestation from our supply chain within five years.”
  • “JBS will achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions, reducing its direct and indirect emissions and offsetting all residual emissions.”

JBS Group and JBS USA repeatedly misled consumers with these claims while the company’s executives told their industry peers that they needed to use messaging targeted to climate-conscious consumers in order to remain competitive. In reality, when making these promises, JBS Group and JBS USA had not calculated the company’s total greenhouse gas emissions, and therefore had no way of knowing whether they could successfully reduce those emissions to net zero by 2040.”

 

If James wins this suit, the impact across the world will be significant, as many organizations have done what JBS has done.

This will be one to watch.

If you are interested in the benefits that sustainable companies gain, but don’t want Letitia James coming after you for greenwashing, read this on what you want in a sustainability program, watch this master class, and contact us.