Greenpeace Netherlands has petitioned a Dutch court to compel the global meat producer JBS to disclose corporate information regarding its climate, environmental, and human rights impacts.
The legal filing seeks to force transparency from the world’s largest meat processing company ahead of a planned 6 billion dollar global expansion, which includes a 2.5 billion dollar investment earmarked for industrial livestock operations in Nigeria.
The legal proceeding relies on recently updated Dutch legislation that allows organisations with a legitimate interest to demand corporate data necessary to build formal litigation against Dutch-registered companies.
JBS, which reincorporated as JBS N.V. in the Netherlands last year to facilitate a dual listing on the New York Stock Exchange, refused to comply with an initial formal disclosure request delivered by Greenpeace in April 2026.
If the Dutch court rules in favour of Greenpeace, the group will gain access to internal corporate documents and can require senior executives, including majority shareholders Joesley and Wesley Batista, to testify under oath.
The focus of the dispute involves JBS’s planned 2.5 billion dollar investment to construct six meat-processing facilities across Nigeria.
Food Campaigner at Greenpeace Africa, Elizabeth Atieno, stated that exporting an industrial livestock model into Sub-Saharan Africa risks displacing smallholder farming communities and causing long-term ecological damage under the guise of food security.
Nigerian civil society organisations have raised concerns over a lack of environmental impact assessments and community consultations, warning that unmonitored industrial farming could heighten regional instability and degrade local ecosystems.
The petition follows JBS’s decision to rescind its corporate commitments to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 and eliminate deforestation from its global supply chains.
Executive Director at Greenpeace Netherlands, Marieke Vellekoop, noted that the abandonment of these climate targets reinforces the need for judicial oversight.
Lawyers for Greenpeace contend that JBS’s historical practices and planned expansion violate the Dutch corporate duty of care, which requires companies operating within the jurisdiction to align their activities with international human rights and environmental standards.
Source: Greenpeace
Image Credit: Dutch News
