AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, 30 April 2026 – Greenpeace Netherlands has taken the first step towards legal action against meat giant JBS, demanding disclosure of information on its climate, nature and human rights impacts in order to challenge in court its business policies, including its planned US$6 billion global expansion, of which almost half is for Nigeria.

Just hours later, Greenpeace Netherlands activists shut down JBS’ first shareholder meeting in the Netherlands since relocating to the country last year. Activists from across Europe disrupted the meeting at the Sheraton Hotel at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, installing a banner bearing the slogan ‘JBS: Keep Your Bloody Business Out of Africa’, which rained fake blood over the entrance to the hotel.

Inside the hotel, a 10m x 15m banner featuring JBS’ majority shareholders, Brazilian billionaires Joesley and Wesley Batista, was unveiled in the 8-story hotel atrium. Activists then entered the conference room where the meeting was taking place, leading to the suspension of the meeting.

Elizabeth Atieno, Food Campaigner at Greenpeace Africa, said: “The growth of JBS’ meat empire has been hand-in-glove with environmental destruction, colossal emissions, human rights scandals, corruption, and a lack of transparency. Now it plans to export this business model to other sub-Saharan Africa countries. As well as locking-in spiralling emissions for decades to come, JBS’ expansion in Nigeria threatens to cause irreversible environmental damage and displace smallholder farmers to line the pockets of wealthy international elites. 

“Nigerians know well from the legacy of companies like Shell the destructive impact wrought by unchecked corporate power. This legal intervention affirms that corporations have obligations to transparency and human rights regardless where they operate in the world. The time of extractive industries operating with impunity on this continent is over. We must stop this new wave of destruction before it starts.”

In a legal letter delivered to the Amsterdam headquarters of JBS parent company JBS N.V. this morning, Greenpeace Netherlands’ lawyers set out multiple alleged breaches by JBS of Dutch law stemming from the extensive emissions and long history of environmental damage and human rights abuses linked to its business. JBS’ expansion plans risk further exacerbating these harms, it argues, raising serious concerns that expansion will be inconsistent with the company’s climate and biodiversity obligations and represent a continued breach of Dutch duty of care, which requires companies to act in line with international human rights law. [1]

Under new legislation that allows access to data held by Dutch companies for the purpose of bringing litigation, the letter demands that JBS disclose within three weeks assessments it holds relating to the climate, nature and human rights impacts of its historic operations and its planned expansion. Should the company fail to comply, Greenpeace Netherlands is entitled to seek the required information in the form of documents and from senior JBS figures under oath, raising the prospect of the Batista brothers being forced to testify in Dutch court.

Marieke Vellekoop, Executive Director at Greenpeace Netherlands, said: “JBS was warned that if it brought its bloody business to the Netherlands, we would do everything in our power to ensure it complies with Dutch law. Today, we are following through on that promise.  

“JBS’ six billion dollar global expansion is following its usual playbook: peddling empty promises, refusing transparency and sidelining communities. Greenpeace Netherlands’ innovative legal intervention forces JBS out of the shadows, exposing its historic and ongoing destructive impacts and laying the ground for a first major climate and nature lawsuit against the predatory expansion of the global meat industry.“

In November 2024, JBS announced an agreement with the government of Nigeria for US$ 2.5 billion investment over five years comprising the construction of six meat-processing plants.[2] Civil society groups in Nigeria have raised serious concerns, citing environmental, health, and social risks associated with industrial animal farming, which is yet to establish a foothold in Africa.[3]

“We have seen this before,” said Elujulo Opeyemi, Executive Director at Youth in Agroecology and Restoration Network (YARN), on behalf of Nigeria’s Climate Justice Movement. “A foreign company arrives with big promises: jobs, development, progress, and instead leaves a trail of destruction whose price communities pay for decades. The Niger Delta is our reminder of what happens when governments open the door to destructive corporations without asking the hard questions first. We are asking those questions now, and we expect answers before a single plant is built.”

There is no available evidence that JBS has conducted any environmental and social impact assessments or consultations with communities and other stakeholders in Nigeria, and efforts by civil society to gather more information via Freedom of Information requests have reportedly been ignored.[4] Last month, Greenpeace Africa submitted an amicus curiae brief before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights arguing that allowing multinational corporations to expand without meaningful environmental safeguards constitutes a failure of the State’s duty to protect human rights. The brief points specifically to JBS’ Nigeria expansion as an example.

In June 2025, JBS concluded a decade-long effort to list shares on the New York Stock Exchange. As part of the listing, JBS reconstituted as a Dutch company, moving its headquarters from Sao Paulo to Amsterdam. Before the listing, Greenpeace International warned JBS shareholders that it would ‘do its part to make sure JBS operates within Dutch law’.

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Greenpeace initiate legal action against meat giant JBS, as activists shut down first Dutch shareholder meeting

SYDNEY, Friday 1 May 2026 — Ahead of the Prime Minister of Japan’s visit to Australia next week, Greenpeace Japan and Greenpeace Australia Pacific have criticised the two countries for taking advantage of the global fossil fuel crisis to entrench gas dependence, instead of supporting the transition to homegrown renewables.

Prime Minister Takaichi is visiting Australia from Sunday 3 May to Tuesday 5 May, to promote stronger military cooperation and to shore up Australia’s gas exports.

The Japanese Government has made extraordinary interventions in Australia’s political debate, claiming gas is required for energy security, yet Japanese corporations make billions re-selling Australian gas to third countries, and the Japanese Government collects more tax from Australian gas than the Australian Government.

Ikumi Toyota, Climate Change and Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace Japan said: “Prime Minister Takaichi’s visit is a calculated move to exploit the fossil fuel crisis exposed by the war on Iran to entrench a gas trade that delivers billions to Japan, and even more to big gas corporations like Inpex, Woodside and Santos.

“As a primary bankroller of destructive projects like Barossa and Scarborough, Japan is using Australia’s exports to drive gas expansion across Asia for its own profit — actively blocking our neighbours from transitioning to the secure, cheap and clean renewable energy they critically need.

“If this crisis has shown anything, it is that true energy security only comes from a rapid transition to renewables, yet Takaichi and Albanese seem hell-bent on sabotaging that future.

“By keeping Asia shackled to gas these leaders are not only threatening our regional energy security, they are ensuring we will continue to watch our power bills rise, while fuelling the extreme heat, floods and rising seas that are already devastating our region.”

Joe Rafalowicz, Head of Climate and Energy at Greenpeace Australia Pacific said: “Prime Minister Takaichi’s visit comes at a time when Australians are waking up to how much of a sham our gas trade is. Not only because of the tax rorts, but also because it is forcing the whole region to rely on unaffordable, unreliable gas when we should be moving to cheap, clean, homegrown renewable energy.

“Just as the calls to properly tax the big gas corporations in Australia have reached a peak, Prime Minister Takaichi has arrived to cynically demand the gas keeps flowing, so that they can keep pushing it on their neighbours to make a quick dollar.

“The Japanese Government is a part owner of INPEX, a company which has exported billions of dollars of Australian gas to Japan without paying a single cent of tax under the PRRT, and has paid just $500 million in corporate tax on $36 billion in revenue. Australians, and the countries in the region buying gas at a mark-up from Japan, are entitled to ask: who is benefiting from this fossil-fuel system?

“We can and should foster a cooperative relationship with Japan that is focused on thriving in a secure, cheap and clean renewable energy future, not digging our heels into the mud on fossil fuels like Trump.”

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More information:

• Takaichi will also visit Vietnam to promote Japan’s recently launched POWERR Asia initiative, which is aimed at increasing fossil fuel stockpiles across Asia, threatening to derail the region’s critical transition to cheap, clean and secure renewable energy.

Media contact

Lucy Keller on 0491 135 308 or lucy.keller@greenpeace.org

“An absolute sham”: Greenpeace Japan and Greenpeace Australia Pacific call-out Prime Ministers Takaichi and Albanese for exploiting fossil fuel crisis to entrench gas

SYDNEY, Monday 4 May 2026 — Following the illegal detention of six Australians by the Israeli military, Greenpeace Australia Pacific is calling on the government to act with urgency to uphold international law and ensure the protection of the Global Sumud Flotilla with concrete steps to ensure its safe passage to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Six Australians aboard the flotilla were detained by the Israeli military last week after their Gaza-bound vessels were illegally intercepted in international waters. It is alleged members of the flotilla were beaten and subject to mistreatment by the Israeli military, including three Australians who were taken to hospital on Crete and have since launched a hunger strike until two flotilla leaders who remain imprisoned in Israel are released.

Kate Smolski, Program Director at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “Greenpeace stands in solidarity with the brave individuals, including six Australians, risking their safety aboard the peaceful flotilla attempting to break Israel’s illegal siege on Gaza.

“Greenpeace is calling on the Australian government to uphold international law and ensure the safe passage of the peaceful Gaza flotilla, and to make clear to the Israeli Government that intercepting and illegally detaining Australian citizens in international waters is wholly unacceptable.

“As an organisation with a long history of using ships for non-violent direct action, Greenpeace actively asserts the right to peaceful protest at sea as a fundamental human right that must be upheld. All governments must also ensure humanitarian assistance is respected and protected at all times and at all costs.

“Greenpeace is proud to support the 70+ vessel-strong flotilla with our campaigning ship the Arctic Sunrise, providing the technical and maritime expertise necessary for the flotilla to safely sail towards Gaza.”

Greenpeace’s campaigning vessel the Arctic Sunrise has been providing logistical support to the Global Sumud Flotilla — an international movement of coordinated, nonviolent action, sailing to end Israel’s illegal siege on Gaza, confront the complicity that enables occupation, and stand with the Palestinian people.

Greenpeace has long condemned both the humanitarian and environmental crises caused by Israel’s genocide on Gaza. Greenpeace’s demands can be found here.

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Media contact

Kate O’Callaghan on 0406 231 892 or kate.ocallaghan@greenpeace.org

Greenpeace calls on Australian government to uphold international law and ensure safe passage of peaceful Gaza flotilla