JBS, the world’s largest meat supplier, has just announced that it will no longer target net zero across its full supply chain.
This 2040 commitment was announced five years ago.[i]
2025 emissions
In the company’s latest sustainability report, Scope 3 made up 97.2% of its reported emissions in 2025. In absolute terms, the reported Scope 3 emissions have increased 22.6% since 2023 (2024 figures were not reported), despite two categories no longer being deemed relevant.[ii] 92% of Scope 3 emissions (89.5% of all emissions) come from Category 1, purchased goods and services, which increased 19% in the past two years.
Alongside this dropped emissions target, it has been reported that JBS claims to have achieved a goal to eliminate deforestation from both direct and indirect suppliers in the Amazon, which, if true, would substantially reduce the Scope 3 emissions from its supply chain coming from land-use change. Although we note that emissions from land-use change are not included in reported emissions “as those calculations are currently being refined”.1
Methane
If land-use is not included, what is driving JBS’ Scope 3 emissions?
Livestock is a material source of methane, through enteric fermentation. And methane emissions are a potential source of the acceleration in global warming that we are experiencing.[iii]
For illustration, we will attempt to estimate JBS’ methane emissions with a back-of-the-envelope calculation:
In 2021, JBS processed 26.8mn cattle.[iv] If we assume cattle take 2-3 years to reach slaughter weight, we estimate a herd size of 67mn. UNFCC estimate a weighted emissions factor of 52kg CH4/head/year.[v] Using the biogenic conversion factor GWP100 of 27[vi] gives 1.4tCO2e/head/year for cattle.
These figures combined indicate annual methane emissions from JBS of 94.1 mn tCO2e which are around half of JBS’ reported Scope 3 emissions.[vii]
Investor engagement
So what can investors do?
Following approval by shareholders, JBS completed its new dual US-Brazil listing last year.[viii] The structure includes A shares which are publicly traded, and B shares, with 10x the voting power, held privately by the Batista family. This limits the voting power of JBS equity investors.
Try bonds?
JBS is a frequent issuer in the bond market, most recently raising USD2bn of debt in March 2026.[ix] Its reliance on fixed income markets offers investors a second potential route of engagement – the bond market.
As this form of engagement is less established, AFII has developed a toolkit to support effective bondholder engagement – 11 tools leveraging the influence of lenders for better outcomes. They can be explored on our website here.
A foremost source of bondholder influence comes from timing engagement with primary market activity. JBS however, has been lengthening the maturity of its bonds, and does not have a material maturity until February 2029.[x] A USD1.5bn revolving credit facility looks set to mature in 2027 however, showing engagement with banks is another potential route.[xi]
Nevertheless, for a company as large as JBS, and as reliant on fixed income borrowing for its business, maintaining good ongoing access to capital markets is essential.
Methane emissions from agriculture are estimated to be 24% of global methane emissions,[xii] and represent a key lever to reduce the pace of global warming. By dropping its Scope 3 target, JBS is no longer committing to reduce the majority of its climate impact. Bond investors are in a unique position to use their influence to get it back.
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[i] "World’s largest meat group JBS scraps a key climate goal", Financial Times, 9 Jul 2026.
[ii] Pg 18 "Non-Financial Disclosure Report 2025", JBS, 8 Jul 2026.
[iii] "Methane emissions are accelerating warming. Scientists say this plan can help", World Economic Forum, 4 May 2026.
[iv] "World’s largest meat company JBS increases emissions in five years despite 2040 net zero climate target continues to greenwash its huge climate footprint", DeSmog, 21 Apr 2022.
[v] “Handbook Agriculture”, UNFCC, accessed 9 Jul 2026.
[vi] “IPCC Global Warming Potential Values”, GHG Protocol, 7 Aug 2024.
[vii] Indeed ours may be a conservative estimation, compared to other calculations for example “Emissions Impossible: How emissions from big meat and dairy are heating up the planet”, Changing Markets Foundations, Nov 2022.
[viii] "JBS minority shareholders approve dual US-Brazil listing", Reuters, 23 May 2025: “JBS Begins Trading on the NYSE, Completes Dual Listing with Brazil’s B3”, JBS, 13 Jun 2025.
[ix] "JBS still lengthening its bond issuance | AFII", AFII, 5 May 2026.
[x] "JBS PRICES OFFERING OF US$2 BILLION IN NOTES DUE TO 2037 AND 2057", JBS, 30 Mar 2026.
[xi] Revolving credit facility details from Bloomberg.
[xii] “Methane”, Climate & Clean Air Coalition, accessed 9 Jul 2026.
