JBS has made bigger inroads than any other food company over the past year in efforts to stop deforestation in its supply chain, according to a report entitled 'Supply chains without deforestation: from commitment to action', produced by the CDP - Driving Economies Sustainable, an international NGO that supports development of sustainable economies and uses corporate data on climate change, water and forest utilisation to publish information for 240 global investors.
The annual report analyses the results of 152 companies worldwide as they continue to deliver on their commitments and take steps to increase transparency and accountability on deforestation issues and products that pose a risk to our forests.
According to the CPD, the main driver behind deforestation of tropical forests is global demand for timber, soybeans, palm oil and beef. Deforestation is also one of the main causes of climate change, representing approximately 15% of greenhouse gas emissions - equivalent to the global transport industry's emissions.
"JBS has taken several steps over the past several years to monitor its entire production chain, carrying out daily analyses of over 60,000 cattle suppliers in Brazil based on a set of social and environmental criteria," said Marcio Nappo, JBS sustainability director. "The entire process is independently audited every year to ensure our operations are completely transparent."
JBS's commitment to fighting deforestation is part of a wider process that the company applies as part of its everyday raw material procurement transactions. They are committed to responsible production, starting with raw material sourcing and continuing throughout the production chain, ensuring that its products are not linked with the use of slave labour, deforestation or other environmental crimes such as invading indigenous lands or environmental conservation areas.
To uphold this commitment, the company has been developing a social and environmental system to monitor raw material suppliers using satellite imagery, geo-referencing data from farms and information from government bodies including Ibama and the Ministry of Employment. The system monitors the company's supplier base on a daily basis to ensure all suppliers comply with the company's social and environmental criteria.
