![\"Aerial](\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/10\/a0c87397-gp0su6pif.jpg\" "\\"Aerial")
Agriculture is one of the biggest drivers of climate change, and the livestock industry in particular is the largest single source of human-made methane emissions globally. But \u201cBig Ag\u201d companies will be present at the COP to downplay their harmful impact – and to fool policymakers and COP attendees into believing that they are the solution to climate breakdown.<\/p>\n\n
Methane: The superheating gas driving global heating<\/h2>\n\n
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas – 80 times stronger than CO\u2082 over a 20-year period.<\/p>\n\n
Methane is responsible for nearly a third of global warming to date<\/a>. And it\u2019s rising fast. According to the Global Methane Budget<\/a>, livestock-related methane emissions increased by 12.5% between the 2000s and 2020 due to more production (and consumption) of farmed animals.<\/p>\n\n Yet, recent studies find that fewer than 4% of climate news stories<\/a> even mention animal agriculture as a source of emissions.<\/p>\n\n That\u2019s no accident. The livestock industry spends millions on marketing, PR, and political lobbying<\/a> to downplay its climate impact and delay real action.<\/p>\n\n With the help of Desmog\u2019s recent greenwashing guide<\/a>, here\u2019s what we will be on the look out for from Big Ag<\/a> at COP30 :<\/p>\n\n The livestock industry wants you to believe that soils and trees where cattle are raised can not only erase emissions generated by the cattle, but even benefit the climate. Some go as far as arguing that livestock raised in the tropics can help drawing enormous amounts of carbon out of the atmosphere<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n In reality, methane from a very large number of livestock raised on an industrial scale far outweighs any carbon absorbed by pastures and soils. \u201cRegenerative,\u201d \u201ctropical,\u201d \u201ccarbon-positive\u201d – it\u2019s all the same old trick: a handful of soil to distract from a cloud of methane.<\/p>\n\n Behold the industry\u2019s latest disappearing act! Big livestock lobbyists vanish their high levels of pollution. How? By simply shifting the baseline and claiming \u201cno additional warming\u201d.<\/p>\n\n The atmosphere doesn\u2019t care about accounting illusions. It needs real action to cut methane emissions now.<\/p>\n\n Roll up, roll up! Big livestock\u2019s favourite story: \u201cWe feed the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n In truth, hunger is on the rise<\/a> in many parts of the world. Most industrially-produced meat and dairy doesn\u2019t feed the hungry<\/a> – it feeds global overconsumption in wealthy countries<\/a>, filling snack aisles and fast-food chains with processed meat and dairy. <\/p>\n\n The show isn\u2019t about feeding the world. It\u2019s about feeding profits.<\/p>\n\n Behind the curtain, agribusiness giants pitch livestock expansion as \u201cpro-jobs\u201d and \u201cpro-development.\u201d<\/p>\n\n But the Global South already grows most of the world\u2019s food – while profits flow North to powerful corporations and governments<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n Big Ag\u2019s version of \u201cdevelopment\u201d keeps local communities dependent and dispossessed.<\/p>\n\n And finally, Big Ag\u2019s most audacious trick: deflection.<\/p>\n\n They point to fossil fuels, claiming, \u201cWe\u2019re not the problem!\u201d while continuing to emit huge amounts of methane every year.<\/p>\n\n Yes, fossil fuels are a major cause of global heating – but so is the mass production and export of industrial meat and dairy. Both must be addressed if COP30 is to deliver meaningful climate progress.<\/p>\n\n We will make sure to tell our world leaders to look past the greenwash and transform our food systems (for real). Join people all over the world calling for Just Transitions to Agroecology<\/a> and add your name to show your support<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n Jehki Harkonen is a Global Campaigner with Greenpeace Nordic<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As COP30 approaches, Big Ag is gearing up to greenwash livestock emissions. Learn how to see through the meat and dairy industry\u2019s methane myths and false climate solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":79315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[149,150,86],"p4-page-type":[59],"class_list":["post-79313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature","tag-amazon","tag-cop30","tag-food","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79313"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79341,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79313\/revisions\/79341"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79313"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=79313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"No](\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/10\/aea4efff-gp0su6wn2.jpg\" "\\"No")
COP30: Big Ag\u2019s stage for greenwashing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
1. \u201cRegenerative\u201d and \u201cTropical\u201d Agriculture – The Magic Dirt Illusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
2. \u201cNo Additional Warming\u201d Methane goal\/target – The Great Escape<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
But here\u2019s the thing. Methane levels in the atmosphere are more than two and a half times higher than they were before industrialisation<\/a>. Far from being benign, methane emissions continue to superheat the planet. <\/p>\n\n3. \u201cWe Feed the World\u201d – The Endless Appetite of Big Ag<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
4. \u201cProgress and Development\u201d – Yesterday\u2019s World, Tomorrow<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
5. \u201cFossil Fuels Are the Real Problem\u201d – The Emissions Hall of Mirrors<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n