Plus, how many Big Ag lobbyists at COP30? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Plus, how many Big Ag lobbyists at COP30?

From the Editor's Desk

Illustration of a tan cow licking its nose and wearing earrings with the Brazilian flag and a traditional woven hat with fruit. A denuded forest landscape is behind the cow.

At the UN COP30 climate talks in Belém, Brazil, disinformation flows from many taps.

This year, the food and farming industry, responsible for both climate-warming emissions and deforestation, has emerged as a significant player at the talks. In an in-depth investigation jointly published with Brazilian outlet Agência Pública, we reveal that agribusiness giants paid nearly 200 Brazilian social media influencers in the lead up to the climate summit, taking place in the heart of the Amazon.

With sponsorships from 10 of the world’s largest livestock, fertilizer, and food companies, these influencers pulled fried chicken out of designer handbags, extolled meat’s health benefits, and produced comedy skits about farming to their hundreds of millions of followers. Dive into the full investigation.

Within the climate summit itself, industrial agriculture’s presence expanded this year, report Rachel Sherrington and Nina Lakhani. Scouring the list of COP30 attendees, they revealed that more than 300 food and farming organizations sent lobbyists to the talks. That outnumbers the delegation from Canada, the world’s tenth largest economy. Read the full story.

DeSmog’s team of reporters and editors, both on the ground and supporting remotely, is working to shine a spotlight on who shows up to these climate negotiations and the messages they convey.

Keep up with all of our coverage of the COP30 climate summit here.

In the high-stakes battle over Trump’s tariff powers, guess which climate denying billionaire bankrolled the legal nonprofit bringing the case to the Supreme Court? None other than Charles Koch. Reporter Sharon Kelly dug into the data behind his fortune and struck Canadian oil — a lot of it.

Over the past decade, Koch Inc. imported more than a billion barrels of foreign crude oil, mostly from Canada, to the U.S. That leaves the Koch empire seriously exposed to the Trump tariffs, setting up a major clash now playing out in the highest court. Sharon lays it all out.

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: [email protected]. Want to know what our UK team is up to? Sign up for our UK newsletter.

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

P.S. Readers like you power our journalism dedicated to climate accountability. Can you donate $10 or $20 right now to support more of this essential work?

Image credit: Andy Carter

Activists protest the presence of agribusiness groups at the COP30 summit in Belem, Brazil.

More Than 300 Lobbyists for Industrial Agriculture Attend COP30

— By Rachel Sherrington and Nina Lakhani (9 min. read) —

Presence of high-polluting companies erodes trust in the UN process, say campaigners.

Illustration of a burger with dollars instead of meat, with heart, thumbs up, and heart-eye emojis bubbling up from around it.

In Brazil, Agribusiness Giants Hire Celebrity Influencers to Win Hearts and Minds

— By TJ Jordan, Akhil Ranjan, Rachel Sherrington and Clare Carlile (8 min. read) —

Doctors and models extol the virtues of meat as climate impacts of industrial farming face scrutiny at COP30 — the global climate summit.

Battle Over Tariff Power Pits Trump Against Koch Network

—By Sharon Kelly (7 min. read) —

Charles Koch’s fortunes were fueled by importing Canadian oil. Now a major Koch-funded law firm seeks to limit Trump’s tariff powers.

DeSmog collage of Labour peer Maurice Glasman in front of an anti-Labour projection produced by the Together Declaration.

Influential Labour Peer Maurice Glasman Addressed Pro-Reform Conspiracy Group’s Conference

— By Sam Bright (3 min. read) —

Glasman was a keynote speaker at an event hosted by Together, whose leader has accused Keir Starmer of “destroying Britain”.

Outside view of European Parliament building with EU and member flags in Strasbourg.

Overhauled EU Climate Law Faces New Threat from Consultancy Giants

— By Emmanuelle Picaud (5 min. read) —

After MEPs voted to gut Europe’s flagship climate transparency law, concerns are mounting that the Big Four will dominate and dilute corporate sustainability audits.

The words 'climate denier spotlight' in wide appear against a transitional gray background with three smokestacks and two intersecting yellow spotlights highlight a bag of gold.

The Protein PACT (People, Animals, Climate, Together) is a U.S-led global meat sector initiative spearheaded by the U.S meat industry group the Meat Institute and launched in July 2021. Founding members include other powerful U.S. meat industry groups including the Animal Agriculture Alliance and the National Pork Producers Council. The Protein PACT’s 2021 pre-launch document states that the organisation’s mission is to “ensure stakeholders, decision-makers, and ultimately consumers trust that meat, dairy, and eggs are part of solutions for diverse, healthy, sustainable diets”.

The Protein PACT takes a leading role in representing the meat sector at key climate forums such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) climate summits and New York Climate Weeks. It has coordinated efforts with other groups to present meat as a “solution” to climate change, and to discourage policymakers’ efforts to introduce binding regulations of the meat sector based on its emissions.

Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database, Ad & PR Database, and Koch Network Database.