Industrial Agriculture Lobbyists Influence at Cop30 Climate Summit in Belem
More than 300 industrial agriculture lobbyists participated at the Cop30 climate summit held in Belem, Brazil, marking a 14% increase from last year’s summit in Baku.
Among them, 77 big-agriculture lobbyists were part of official country delegations, with six granted privileged access to United Nations negotiations.
Overall, the Cop30 delegate pool comprised 302 delegates representing meat and dairy interests, who accounted for 72 delegates. India sent 87 negotiators, while Canada had a notably large delegation of 220.
JBS, a major meat producer, had eight lobbyists at Cop30, including CEO Gilberto Tomazoni. The meat and dairy sector is responsible for about 24% of related emissions, with emissions from 45 large meat and dairy firms comparable to those of Saudi Arabia.
The agrochemical sector, including pesticides and fertilizers, was represented by 60 delegates, while the biofuels sector had 38 delegates, reflecting a 138% increase compared to the previous year. Bayer had 19 lobbyists present and Nestlé 9.
Brazil is actively promoting a policy to quadruple biofuel use. However, biofuels can emit about 16% more greenhouse gases than fossil fuels when considering land-use impacts related to monocrop production.
This analysis is based on the provisional UNFCCC list of 56,000 Cop30 delegates, encompassing corporations, trade groups, and national unions with corporate ties. Responses were received from Bayer and JBS; other entities did not respond.
