JBS will use blockchain technology to enhance conservation of the Amazon

The blockchain platform will guarantee the security and confidentiality of the cattle producers' data;

The investment fund created by the company will promote the socioeconomic development and conservation of the Biome

SÃO PAULO, Oct. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With the aim of increasingly sustainable production, JBS is announcing the Together For the Amazon program, a set of initiatives that seeks to enhance conservation and development of the Amazon Biome, engaging the industry and proposing actions that go beyond its value chain. The program encompasses climate change, which was allocated priority within the JBS global sustainability targets presented in 2019.

The fundamental pillars of the Together for the Amazon program are: (i) development of the value chain; (ii) forest conservation and restoration; (iii) support for the communities; and (iv) scientific and technological development.

The first pillar consists of the JBS Green Platform, a ground-breaking initiative that will cross-check information of the Company's direct suppliers with livestock transportation data from preceding links in the supply chain. By using blockchain technology, the company will guarantee the confidentiality and security of the personal, commercial and sanitary information of the producers, as well as transparency in the analyses of the suppliers.

The Company will also launch engagement campaigns so that, by the end of 2025, its suppliers' suppliers are also on the JBS Green Platform. In addition, JBS will provide legal, environmental and animal husbandry advisory to assist producers with improvements in stewardship and the environmental regularization of their properties, while also expanding its educational actions in sustainability to its supply chain.

For over a decade, JBS has been monitoring 100% of its cattle supplying farms using strict sustainability criteria, including zero tolerance of deforestation, encroachment on protected areas like indigenous lands or environmental conservation units, hard labor, or the use of areas embargoed by Ibama. This daily analysis covers more than 50,000 properties in the Amazon region, an area greater than the size of Germany.

"We are publicly reiterating our commitment to the sustainability of the Amazon. We hope to scale up, not only in combatting deforestation, but also in fostering the bio-economy, sustainable agriculture and social development", says Gilberto Tomazoni, Global CEO of JBS.

JBS Fund for the Amazon
The other three pillars will be achieved through the JBS Fund For The Amazon, created to finance initiatives for expanding forest conservation, promoting sustainable development of the local communities, as well as scientific and technological development, with a contribution of R$ 250 million over the first five years. With the participation of other stakeholders, the target is to reach R$ 1 billion by 2030.

The Fund will be headed up by Joanita Maestri Karoleski, former CEO of Seara, with the support of a Board of Directors, a Fiscal Council, a Consultative Council and a Technical Committee. The latter two will assist in choosing the projects that will receive contributions, audited by KPMG. The entire process will be reported, and the results published on the program site.

CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL

• Alessandro Carlucci
  Chairman of the Board of Business for Social Responsibility (BSR)
• André Guimarães
  Executive Director of the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM)
• Caio Magri
  Chief Executive Officer of Ethos Institute
• Carlos Nobre
  Scientists and researcher at the Institute of Advanced Studies of the University of São Paulo (IEA USP)
• Fábio Feldmann
  Lawyer and environmentalist
• Marcello Brito
  President of the Brazilian Agribusiness Association (Abag)
• Marina Grossi
  Chair of the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD-Brazil)
• Noël Prioux
  CEO of Carrefour Brasil
• Raul Padilla
  President, Global Operations at Bunge
• Ronaldo Iabrudi
  Joint Deputy Chairman of the Board of GPA
• Teresa Vendramini
  President of the Brazilian Rural Society (SRB)

TECHNICAL COMMITTEE

• Antonio Fernando Pinheiro Pedro
  Environmental Lawyer
• Arnaldo Carneiro Filho
  Senior Researcher at SINAPSIS Consulting Company
• Cira Moura
  Executive secretary of the Legal Amazon Consortium
• Daniel Nepstad
  President and Executive Director of the Earth Innovation Institute 
• Durval Dourado Neto
  Member of the consultative council at the Forum of the Future Institute. Full Professor and Director of ESALQ/USP
• Jorge Alex Athias
  Lawyer and pro-bono professor of Environmental Law at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA)
• Jorge Madeira Nogueira
  Full Professor of the Department of Economics at the University of Brasília (UnB)
• Lucas Vitor de Carvalho Sousa
  Assistant Professor of the Department of Economics and Analysis at the Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM)
• Marcio Sztutman
  Director for Latin America of the Partnerships for Forests initiative of Palladium: Make it Possible
• Maria Daniele de Jesus Teixeira
  Economist at the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT) and professor on the Specialization Course in Sustainability
• Virgilio Viana
  General Superintendent of the Sustainable Amazon Foundation(FAS)