As the world’s population is expected to increase by 2.8 billion people by 2050, animal protein consumption should grow by 70%, according to the World Resources Institute. JBS’S global platform is set for considerable growth and this is led by a team of meat and livestock industry experts committed to sustainable growth.

In the first of a series of snapshot interviews with the leaders driving this Marcio Nappo, JBS’ Director of Sustainability shares his vision for the Company’s sustainable future and the steps that the it has taken to strengthen its sustainability globally across its value chain.

Q: How is JBS’ approach to sustainability continuously evolving?

Marcio: JBS is striving to improve standards, drive change and be a leader in future sustainable meat production.

We have long had an active environmental stewardship, social responsibility and corporate governance structure and are successfully and continuously reducing the business’ environmental footprint (across water, emissions, waste, energy) and investing in innovation to improve our eco-efficiency.

We are fast approaching ten years of our zero-deforestation commitment which remains a priority for the business. Our Responsible Procurement Policy means that cattle from deforested farms in the Amazon region in Brazil are prohibited from entering JBS’ supply chain. We have made a significant investment in our monitoring system which covers over 280,000 square miles in the Legal Amazon, an area larger than Germany which assesses more than 50,000 potential farms that supply cattle daily to the company. We believe that the industry will continue to thrive using new technology and improved productivity in our cattle supply chain.

Q: What is your role in implementing this? 

Marcio: I have been JBS’ Sustainability Director for over seven years now and have taken a proactive stance to not just implementing and developing our sustainability agenda, but ensuring it is communicated to all stakeholders.

An important part of the role is involvement with suppliers and customers alike to drive best practices in transparency and accountability. I have a hands-on approach to this which includes attending and speaking at industry events across the world and attending customer site visits – where they can meet the farmers and communities, they support by buying our meat. I also lead on the development of policies for issues that are fundamental to our industry including carbon emissions reduction, animal welfare and health and safety of our team member, among other topics.