Weller’s time as a sustainability officer at another food company that works in animal agriculture gives him key experience to handle the beef giant’s mission to lower its emissions.
“His expertise in agricultural carbon markets and his passion for rural vitality make Jason the ideal person to drive JBS forward as we focus on combating climate change and achieving our ambitious sustainability targets,” JBS Global CEO Gilberto Tomazoni said in a statement.
At Truterra, Weller helped develop what JBS referred to as one of the largest agricultural carbon credit programs in the United States. Specifically, he led the company’s efforts to incentivize farmers to adopt sustainable farming practices through initiatives to give companies credits they can sell based on their emissions.
Weller also helped Truterra’s CPG partners achieve their own goals, such as validating their reductions of Scope 3 emissions — indirect sources of pollution, including those that come from operations of vendors they use.
The beef sector is ramping up its sustainability presence amid growing concern from consumers and investors about its greenhouse gas emissions, which have risen by more than 10% since 2000, based on Statista data. JBS committed to investing $1 billion in projects that target greenhouse gases, including $100 million to help producers implement regenerative agriculture practices by 2030.
Other beef producers have furthered steps to hire new executives to oversee sustainability efforts. Tyson hired John R. Tyson as its first chief sustainability officer in 2019. Since then, the meat giant has released annual sustainability reports, launched a coalition to advance sustainable protein efforts and set a goal to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Sustainability isn’t the only area JBS is aiming to target with a new executive hire. Last month, the company tapped Michael Koenig, a Pilgrim’s Pride veteran, as its global chief ethics and compliance officer, as it aims to prevent future price-fixing lawsuits and antitrust investigations.
Source: fooddive.com