JBS scraps its climate goals as Every's egg protein scales in Iowa
JBS, the world's largest meatpacker, scrapped its 2040 net-zero and deforestation goals, dropping the Scope 3 emissions that make up 97% of its footprint from its new targets.
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JBS, the world's largest meatpacker, scrapped its 2040 net-zero and deforestation goals, dropping the Scope 3 emissions that make up 97% of its footprint from its new targets. [105]
02
ADM began commercial-scale production of Every's animal-free egg protein OvoPro at its Iowa plant, with 2026 orders already up 550% over all of last year. [102]
03
A chuckwagon collision seriously injured another horse at the Calgary Stampede, days after Alberta carved rodeo events out of its animal protection law. [134]
04
A Cornell-led study in Nature found a global shift to healthier, plant-rich diets could cut agricultural land-use emissions 76% by 2050 versus business as usual. [113]
05
The EU dropped leather from its deforestation law after tannery-industry lobbying, despite the Commission's own research tying leather to up to 17% of the law's deforestation footprint. [128]
06
Nearly 60% of young Indians already count as meat-reducers, and half the rest say they're open to going vegan. [146]
The Stories: the day’s biggest developments, in the sources’ own words
01▼Law & PolicyStory
JBS Scraps Its 2040 Net-Zero and Deforestation Pledges
Photo: Conservation news
“Backtracking on measurable targets doesn't diminish the scrutiny JBS will face for its climate and nature-wrecking record of pollution, deforestation, land grabbing, human rights abuses and corruption.”
Gemma Hoskins, global climate lead, Mighty Earth · [127]
“Bold ambition is fine, but you now need to actually have really good, measurable, accountable goals. And that's what we're doing.”
Jason Weller, JBS chief sustainability officer · [127]
By the numbers
191 million tonnesof CO2e JBS emitted in 2025, up 22% from 2023 [105]
97%of JBS's emissions are Scope 3, the category it just dropped from its reduction target [105]
30%cut to Scope 1 and 2 emissions intensity by 2030 is JBS's new, narrower goal, replacing the abandoned economy-wide Net Zero by 2040 pledge [105]
Overstated"not walking away from challenges and opportunities in feeding a growing world in the face of a changing climate" (Jason Weller, JBS chief sustainability officer) [105]. JBS simultaneously dropped its Net Zero and deforestation pledges and stopped targeting the Scope 3 emissions that make up nearly all of its footprint.
ADM Launches Commercial-Scale Production of Every's Egg Protein in Iowa
Photo: food dive
“Traditional protein sources like eggs will always be a critically important part of diets around the world, but it's also clear that the only way to meet the growing global demand for protein is to add innovative new ingredient options that can expand the supply of high-quality protein.”
Kris Lutt, ADM vice president for innovation and growth · [102]
By the numbers
550%growth in OvoPro's order volume in the first four months of 2026, compared with all of 2025 [102]
1.0PDCAAS score claimed for OvoPro, the highest protein-quality ranking on the scale [102]
“Rather than update decades-old animal cruelty laws, Alberta has chosen to shield one of the province's most deadly animal events from legal scrutiny.”
110animals have died at the Calgary Stampede since 1986, with 79 of those deaths from chuckwagon races alone [134]
6horses were killed in chuckwagon races in 2019, the deadliest Stampede in the past decade [134]
WatchAlberta's rodeo and chuckwagon carve-out from its Animal Protection Act takes effect this fall, exempting "generally accepted practices" in these events from animal protection law. [134]
Plant-Rich Diet Shift Could Cut Farm Land-Use Emissions 76% by 2050
Photo: vegconomist
“Our study shows that continuing on the current path is the more expensive option.”
Hermann Lotze-Campen, head of climate resilience research, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research · [113]
By the numbers
76%cut in net CO2 emissions from agriculture-related land-use change by 2050, versus business as usual [113]
9%reduction in global agricultural land use, with livestock production value down 60% but fruit, vegetable, nut and legume production value up 23% [113]
Solid"reduce net CO₂ emissions from agriculture-related land-use change by 76%" by 2050 (Cornell-led study published in Nature) [113]. Ten independent global food-system models were run and compared, a peer-reviewed multi-model consensus rather than a single projection.
Fromvegconomist the vegan business magazine
Worth Knowing
Food & Recipes
Tonight's dessert: a vegan vanilla tapioca pudding built on soy milk and real vanilla bean, no coconut flavor in sight. [66]
Ladybird, one of Manhattan's defining vegan restaurants for nearly a decade, will close at the end of 2026 as its parent company redirects toward a new concept. [82]
Research & Nutrition
A meta-analysis of prospective studies found vegetarians have 13% lower total cancer risk and vegans 23% lower, than non-vegetarians. [8]
Plant-based dietary patterns were tied to 18% lower odds of hypertension across nearly 457,000 adults in a new meta-analysis. [7]
Healthful plant-based diets were linked to 21% lower dementia risk (unhealthful versions to 24% higher) in a meta-analysis spanning almost 208,000 people. [16]
A randomized cross-over trial found a plant-based meat-supplemented diet lowered the heart-risk marker TMAO more than a red-meat diet did. [10]
A four-month randomized trial found a multinutrient supplement significantly improved vitamin B12 biomarkers in healthy vegans, with most other tested vitamins unchanged. [18]
Activism & Animals
Mercy For Animals is targeting Atlanta and Chicago shoppers to pressure Kroger into restoring the 100%-cage-free-by-2025 pledge it walked back in 2022. [130]
Romanch's Law, New York City's proposed horse-drawn carriage ban, secured a majority of City Council cosponsors after a hearing packed with supporters. [132]
Innovation
Singapore's Rize raised $31 million to expand low-methane rice farming, which already covers 50,000 hectares and 17,000 smallholder farmers in Vietnam and Indonesia. [90]
Researchers grew cow's-milk protein beta-casein inside plant seeds at 1.26% of total protein, the highest yield reported yet for the approach. [109]
88% of surveyed European grocers back shifting protein sales toward plants, but most say weak consumer demand, not retailer will, is the holdup. [111]
German 16-to-29-year-olds like pulses in theory, but eat only about half the 6.5kg a year nutritionists recommend. [112]
One Good Thing
Kory Stetina closed two vegan restaurants this year, then opened Throne Room, a Dungeons-and-Dragons-themed cocktail bar hidden beneath his decade-old vegan metal bar Kindred, anyway. "Providing a sense of escape is probably the most important element of our hospitality," he says. A few blocks away, when word got out that New York's Caravan of Dreams might close, fans raised nearly $175,000 to keep it open within 48 hours. Vegan restaurants keep dying, and vegan people keep rebuilding them, sometimes with six figures, sometimes with a candlelit ceiling and a stubborn refusal to quit. [83]
Vanilla tapioca pudding is one of those desserts that's surprisingly easy to make, uses simple pantry staples, and somehow tastes fancy enough to deserve a spot on a restaurant…
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Animal Justice
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