NARB Agrees Advertiser Can't Support Aspirational Net Zero Claims

JBS – the second-largest food company in the world – made several aspirational claims about its commitment "to be net zero by 2040." Those claims were challenged by a trade association, who argued that the claims were misleading. As we reported in February, although NAD acknowledged that JBS had taken steps that "may be helpful towards achieving net-zero by 2040," NAD found that those steps weren't enough to support the implied claim that JBS was currently implementing a plan to "achieve net zero operational impact by 2040." JBS appealed the decision to the NARB.

In its appeal, JBS highlighted the steps it had already taken towards its goal, including that it had already spent millions of dollars, committed more than an additional billion, made efforts to define its emissions baseline, and set a near-term target date to submit a detailed roadmap to SBTi for its review. JBS argued that NAD was mistaken about what consumers expect when they see aspirational claims.