The Meat Agenda: industry’s COP30 power play exposed in new report

Latest findings from the Changing Markets Foundation uncover meat industry campaign to claim climate credentials while influencing the COP30 agenda

Download the report 

Brasilia/London, Wednesday 5 November 2025 – On the eve of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, Changing Markets Foundation new report The Meat Agenda: Agricultural Exceptionalism and Greenwash in Brazil sounds the alarm on the pervasive greenwash and extensive lobbying by the meat industry as it seeks to position itself as part of the climate solution at the global summit.

The report warns that this industry manipulation is putting Brazil’s climate leadership at risk. It reveals how giants like JBS, the world’s largest meat company, have been working overtime to portray themselves as champions of climate action while lobbying behind the scenes to avoid mandatory regulation.

From promoting agribusiness as an ‘environmental powerhouse’ to journalist workshops on ‘fair metrics’ for tropical agriculture, to the use of digital influencers and academic voices, the sector has orchestrated a sophisticated campaign to escape climate scrutiny. This sector is well versed in such tactics: In Brazil, rampant greenwashing and marketing campaigns are backed by the powerful ruralist caucus, which controls most of the Congress and Senate (1), shielding agribusiness from meaningful regulation.

Maddy Haughton-Boakes, Senior Campaigner, Changing Markets said

“Our report shows the Road to Belém has been littered with greenwash by the same companies working overtime to sabotage meaningful climate action. Meat giants are using their influence over politics, corporate events, and public discourse to shape the narrative and downplay the sector’s devastating environmental impact. These global corporations are masters of distraction and have largely succeeded in evading climate regulation.”

In the report, Changing Markets Foundation

• Exposes the scale of corporate capture, bringing together for the first time a calendar of meat industry-influenced events attempting to shape the narrative on agriculture around COP30.
• Shines a spotlight on the agricultural methane blindspot, with a complete lack of measures in Brazil’s NDC to address its massive agricultural methane emissions, underscoring the country’s extreme levels of agricultural exceptionalism.
• Unpacks how key climate policies central to Brazil’s NDC are being weakened, from enforcement of the Forest Code to an Emissions Trading System that exempt agriculture altogether.

Under President Lula, Brazil has made significant gains in reducing deforestation and progressing towards the eradication of hunger. The gains in food security were achieved by empowering Brazil’s small farmers, who produce two-thirds of food consumed domestically, but control just a quarter of the farmland and receive less than a tenth of public credit.

While these advances must be celebrated, significant challenges remain thanks to the outsized grip of agribusiness on politics. The pro-industry Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária (FPA), currently holds a majority in the Brazilian Congress, with 59% of deputies (303 out of 513) and 62% of senators, giving the sector enormous political power to advance and protects its interests.

Meanwhile, multimillion-dollar marketing campaigns portray agribusiness as Brazil’s economic engine and food provider, and a modern, inclusive sector central to national identity. When claiming they are critical for food security, agribusiness giants fail to acknowledge that their focus is producing commodities for the export market. Brazilian exports account for 21% of all beef traded internationally, one in every five kilos of beef consumed worldwide.

Just weeks before COP30, JBS launched a campaign featuring celebrated Brazilian media personality Fátima Bernardes (2), claiming that it ‘feeds a better future.’ The reality is far bleaker: JBS’s long record of environmental crimes and human rights abuses, including deforestation, pollution, land grabbing, labour exploitation, and violations of Indigenous peoples’ rights reveal the true costs of its operations.

On 3 November 2025 – just days before the start of COP30 – the Office of the Attorney General (3) announced a $1.1 million settlement with JBS USA for its greenwashing when it comes to its climate plans. A lawsuit was filed (4) in 2024 for advertising by the JBS Group, claiming that it would reach “net zero” greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, despite having no plans to achieve it.

Brazil is also the world’s fifth-largest emitter of methane, a greenhouse gas 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. With more cows than people, agriculture alone accounts for over 75% of the country’s total methane emissions, the majority from cattle.

“While Brazil’s climate ambitions are laudable, they are unachievable without addressing the emissions of the agribusiness, particularly its vast methane footprint,” continued Haughton-Boakes

“With 1.5°C hanging in the balance, the stakes have never been higher. COP30 is a critical opportunity to ensure that when it comes to food systems, climate science and frontline communities, rather than corporate influence, shape our path forward. As world leaders gather in Belém, Brazil has the potential to be a true climate leader if it calls out the greenwash and stands up to Big Meat.”

As COP30 president, Brazil’s stance on agribusiness-related issues will significantly influence the overall ambition of the conference. The release of The Meat Agenda stands as a timely follow up to Changing Markets 2024 report, The New Merchants of Doubt (5) which documents how the 22 largest meat companies, three of which JBS, Marfrig (now MBRF) and Minerva are Brazilian work to distract, delay and derail climate action.
ENDS

See what Changing Markets is up to at COP30 

(1) The Instituto Pensar Agropecuária (IPA), ‘Thinking Agribusiness’, is the driver of the FPA’s efforts in Congress. It is within the IPA that decisions are made on which bills will be supported, blocked or fast-tracked. The IPA is financed by 48 business associations, including many of the biggest multinational and Brazilian agribusiness corporations. For more see the full report.

(2) Fátima Bernardes is a Brazilian journalist and television presenter, formerly a news anchor on Jornal Nacional who is currently a popular talk show host.

(3) Office of the New York State Attorney General (3 November, 2025) Attorney General James Secures $1.1 Million for Climate-Smart Agriculture from World’s Largest Beef Producer https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2025/attorney-general-james-secures-11-million-climate-smart-agriculture-worlds

(4) The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (3 November, 2025) The Return of Brazil’s Irrepressible Mega-Butchers available at https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025-11-03/jbs-the-return-of-brazils-irrepressible-mega-butchers

(5) Changing Markets Foundation (2024) The New Merchants of Doubt: How Big Meat and Dairy Avoid Climate Action