The federal district court for the District of Columbia remanded to D.C. Superior Court the nonprofit organization Mighty Earth’s greenwashing lawsuit against the meat producer JBS USA Food Company and JBS USA Food Company Holdings (JBS USA). Mighty Earth alleged, among other things, that JBS USA misrepresented its products’ sustainability by advertising a net zero emissions by 2040 goal “without the intention or capability” of achieving the goal. Both JBS USA and Mighty Earth agreed that Mighty Earth lacked Article III standing, but Mighty Earth asserted that it had standing to bring the case in D.C. courts under the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act, which authorizes public interest organizations to bring claims on behalf of consumers. JBS USA, which removed the case on diversity jurisdiction grounds, argued that the federal court should dismiss the case for lack of standing. The federal court concluded that it was bound by rulings holding that Article III standing was unnecessary when a case such as this is brought in D.C. court. Because it could not exercise jurisdiction over Mighty Earth’s claims and because the D.C. Superior Court could, the federal district court remanded the action.

Climate washing action against major beef producer for allegedly misrepresenting that it can achieve net zero emissions by 2040 and making material omissions about its operations’ environmental harms.

Mighty Earth v. JBS USA Food Co.

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D.C. Federal Court Returned Greenwashing Case Against JBS USA to D.C. Superior Court

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

A commitment to balance GHG emissions with removal by a certain point in time, effectively reducing the net emissions to zero

This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

D.C. Federal Court Returned Greenwashing Case Against JBS USA to D.C. Superior Court

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Policy instrument

Economic sector