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Greenpeace seeks Dutch court order on JBS disclosure for $6bn expansion
The petition argues courts should test whether JBS meets Dutch “duty of care” rules tied to climate, nature and human rights commitments, potentially setting precedent beyond fossil fuels.
JBS, the world’s biggest meat company, is facing a legal challenge in the Netherlands over whether it can substantiate the climate and human rights claims tied to its global growth plan. Guardian Business reports that Greenpeace has petitioned Dutch courts to require JBS to disclose how its aims align with responsibilities to climate, nature and human rights.
The expansion plan totals $6bn (£4.5bn), and the company intends to invest $2.5bn in six meat processing plants in Nigeria. Civil society groups argue the projects would threaten smallholder farmers, domestic food security, and land use priorities, according to the report.
In the case, courts in the Netherlands, where JBS is headquartered, will assess the petition to determine whether the company is compliant with Dutch laws on “duty of care” and with its own publicly stated commitments. Greenpeace says it views the disclosure request as a first step that could lead to formal litigation, and it framed the effort as a new frontier for climate-related legal challenges.
The report notes a recent comparison in France, where a Paris court ruled that TotalEnergies must disclose climate risks from emissions tied to its oil and gas products and describe plans to address them. In the Netherlands, the outlet adds, legal challenges have increasingly targeted major companies, with the JBS dispute potentially extending those approaches to the agriculture sector, which the report describes as a leading driver of deforestation and a source of methane emissions.