​World’s largest meat company faces legal challenge over green credentials of $6bn global expansion

Cattle at a JBS facility in Tucumã, Pará, Brazil. JBS plans to invest $2.5bn in six meat-processing plants in Nigeria, which civil society groups say would threaten smallholder farmers, domestic food security and land-use priorities. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

The world’s biggest meat company, JBS, faces a landmark legal challenge to disclose how its $6bn (£4.5bn) global expansion plan is compatible with responsibilities to the climate, nature and human rights.

Courts in the Netherlands, where JBS is headquartered, will assess the petition filed by Greenpeace for information on whether the company is compliant with Dutch laws on “duty of care” as well as its own publicly stated commitments.