DeSmog Releases Analysis Of Big Ag And Food Industry Lobbyists From COP29 UNFCCC Participant Data

LONDON 19 November, 2024: Today DeSmog released an analysis of the UNFCCC COP29 participant data list of attendees that reveals that more than 200 industrial agriculture lobbyists representing the world’s largest food and farming companies were given access to the COP29 climate talks in Baku.

The DeSmog analysis toplines include:

• Overall, 204 agriculture delegates have accessed the talks this year, analysis by DeSmog reveals. The figures show that climate COPs continue to be a top priority for businesses working in agriculture, a sector that accounts for up to one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions.
• Food sector lobbyists remain highly influential, traveling to Baku as part of country delegations from Brazil, Russia, and Australia, among others. This year, nearly 40 percent of delegates traveled to the summit with country badges – which lent them privileged access to diplomatic negotiations, up from 30 percent at COP28, and just five percent at COP27.
• Delegates from the meat and dairy sector sent 53 delegates to the summit this year, with 20 traveling with Brazil’s government, the analysis found. They outnumbered the delegation of the Caribbean island of Barbados, which in July was devastated by Hurricane Beryl, a disaster linked to climate change.
• The world’s largest meat company, JBS, sent six delegates this year, the analysis found. Others in attendance include the world’s second largest dairy company Nestlé (6 delegates) and two of the largest pesticides firms, Bayer and Syngenta (13 delegates in total).
• Sectors with a particularly strong presence included the industrial meat and dairy sector (49 delegates), and synthetic fertilizers and pesticides (42 delegates).

In the last three years, industrial agriculture giants, such as from the meat sector, have shown up in increasing numbers at COPs – and with sophisticated messaging plans to win over decision-makers at the talks. While numbers of food lobbyists peaked last year at the largest summit to date, this year’s attendance shows the industry continues to see attendance at COP as an important priority, as they continue to face scrutiny over ever-rising agricultural emissions.

DeSmog researcher Rachel Sherrington said, “Our research shows that Big Agriculture has a powerful and sustained presence within the UNFCCC and at the heart of global climate decision-making. Companies like JBS have emissions the size of major European countries, as well as contributing to biodiversity loss, food insecurity, and the degradation of soils and fresh waterways worldwide. Food has risen up the COP agenda in recent years, but instead of coming to summits to support ambitious action, companies too often arrive at COPs with tactics that delay action and promote the status quo.

“Along with the 1,770 fossil fuel lobbyists who accessed the talks this year, our reporting raises serious questions about the influence of powerful vested interests on the COP process.”

Claire Charlo, Indigenous Feminisms Educator for Indigenous Environmental Network, and Agriculture Thematic Lead for the Women and Gender Constituency, said the large presence of Big Ag and fossil fuel lobbyists at COP29 was “concerning but not surprising. Over the years, there has been a steady increase in lobbyists pushing false solutions, techno-fixes, and continued fossil fuel extraction. Even more troubling, the allocation of badges seems to favor these industry representatives, while NGOs and grassroots organisations are seeing their access reduced. This trend is alarming, as it undermines the voices of those advocating for genuine climate solutions and amplifies the influence of those perpetuating the very systems driving the climate crisis.”

As well as being represented directly, companies like JBS, Nestlé, and Bayer are also represented on the ground via powerful industry groups such as Brazil’s Confederação da Agricultura e Pecuária do Brasil (CNA), CropLife, and the Global Dairy Platform.

While many industrial agriculture giants argue they are providing the solution to climate change, scientists say many of the arguments they use are misleading. JBS is among a number of major food companies which are facing lawsuits over misrepresenting their environmental claims.

As well as revealing the number of companies and trade groups on the ground at COP29, the analysis also shows which companies have the most access in the negotiations. It finds the country delegation of Russia has brought in more than a dozen delegates of the synthetic fertilizer industry, including fertilizer giants Eurochem and PhosAgro. The fertilizer industry is heavily reliant on fossil gas for use as a feedstock, and another key driver of rising agricultural emissions.

Brazil, which is set to host COP30 next year, has also been a major source of access for agri-giants this year, bringing in more than 35 delegates including representatives of meat giants JBS, BRF, and Marfrig.

This analysis comes on the heels of the Kick Big Polluters Out Coalition’s research that revealed at least 1,773 fossil fuel lobbyists registered for COP29, and data released by Center for International Environmental Law that revealed that there are at least 400 lobbyists advocating for carbon capture technologies (a widely disproven false solution to effective climate change action). All told, these analyses underscore the need for a reset of the system so that it works for people and the planet, not Big Polluters like the fossil fuel industry and Big Ag, as well as an end to the ability of corporations to write the rules of climate action and bankroll the climate talks. 

Arnold Padilla, the deputy executive director of Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific said, “Small farmers, landless peasants, agricultural workers, indigenous communities, and rural women and youth bear the brunt of the climate crisis, trapped by structural poverty and marginalization. It’s infuriating that their voices are pushed aside to serve Big Ag’s interests. The greatest injustice is that Big Ag, the very force driving agriculture’s massive climate impact, dominates the conversation while those most affected are ignored.

Big Ag promotes false solutions designed to sustain and expand their profit-driven, destructive practices. Meanwhile, small farming communities champion agroecology—sustainable practices that avoid climate-harming agrochemicals and protect biodiversity. These real solutions are essential for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and tackling the climate crisis.”

More quotes from Kick Big Polluters Out partners:

“In the face of widespread hunger and the exacerbating impacts of the climate crisis, these polluters prioritize profits and prop up the industrial, corporate-dominated, and carbon-intensive food systems geared for the global market. We join the call of Kick Big Polluters Out and broader civil society for robust governance at the UNFCCC to limit private sector participation and strengthen the representation and platform the voices of the most vulnerable small food producers and communities at COP.” Lidy Nacpil, Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development

“We are deeply concerned about Agribusiness presence at COP and other UN Food and Agriculture spaces. We expect this because we have been fighting multinational corporations that are actively trying to capture and co-op international Food and Agriculture structures. Nevertheless, we know we are more people and we will keep fighting until victory. We maintain our conviction rooted in our ancestral legacy, with those that keep feeding the world and those that gave their lives in this struggle. We have built a foundation of more than 200 million peasants, farmworkers, agrarian organizers, and food sovereignty activists from all over the world that on a daily basis work on real systemic transformation through Agroecology and Food Sovereignty, making sure we give dignity back to those who sustain life and defend the natural commons while fighting so that Food and Agriculture stays in the hands of the people and not in the hands of a few multinational corporations with greed for profit.” Jesús Juan Vázquez Negrón, Organización Boricuá de Agricultura Ecológica de Puerto Rico and La Vía Campesina Climate Justice Representative

“Lobbyists and fossil fuel profiteers are here solely for their interests and not for those at the frontlines. I am sad because their presence will only sustain the status quo and keep them in business. You don’t allow mosquitos to prescribe malaria drugs for you. They are here to hijack negotiations, distract attention from the real solutions, and further enshrine their influence and power in manipulating vulnerable and unsuspecting nations, especially from the Global South. It’s business as usual for them.” Olamide Martins, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa

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