The New Merchants of Doubt: How Big Meat and Dairy Avoid Climate Action

The report reveals how 'Big Meat and Dairy' companies employ a 'corporate playbook' of distraction, delay, and derailment to maintain the status quo and avoid environmental regulation. The industry uses greenwashing, industry-funded science to downplay methane emissions, and aggressive lobbying to secure 'agricultural exceptionalism,' ensuring that climate actions remain voluntary and supported by public subsidies rather than mandatory regulations. The analysis highlights a significant disparity between the industry's public PR regarding 'techno-fixes' and its actual investment in low-carbon solutions, while documenting the systematic weakening of climate policies like the EU's Farm to Fork strategy.

• The meat and dairy industry employs a three-part strategy—distract, delay, and derail—to avoid climate regulation, mirroring tactics used by the tobacco and fossil fuel industries. This includes 'greenwashing' through weak net zero targets and misleading advertising specifically targeting Gen Z via social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
• Corporate climate targets in the sector generally lack integrity. Of the 22 companies investigated, only 15 have climate targets, and none meet the standards provided by the UN Expert group. Danone is noted as the most scientifically aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory and is the only company with a specific commitment to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030.
• The industry funds academic research to promote narratives that downplay the impact of methane. These include arguing that livestock methane is part of a 'biogenic cycle' or pushing the GWP* metric to claim the sector could become 'climate neutral' with minimal reductions. Additionally, companies use the ill-defined term 'regenerative agriculture' to argue against reducing livestock numbers.
• There is a significant gap between the industry's public promotion of 'techno-fixes' and its actual financial investment. Companies spend an average of 1% of revenues on R&D, and some, such as Fonterra, Nestlé, and Arla, spend more on advertising than on R&D across their entire business. JBS spends only 6.2% of its annual advertising budget on net zero efforts.
• In the US, the industry has secured 'agricultural exceptionalism' through political influence and 'revolving doors,' such as US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack's previous role at the US Dairy Export Council. This has resulted in the US Inflation Reduction Act providing nearly $20 billion in funding for agricultural greenhouse gas reduction without requirements to prove actual emissions reductions.
• In the EU, the farm lobby, including the Copa-Cogeca group, successfully weakened the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork strategy. The industry conducted nearly 600 top-level meetings with the European Commission since November 2014 and successfully lobbied to remove the obligation to reduce agricultural emissions by 30% from the 2040 climate target.
• Public funding and lobbying are heavily skewed toward animal-source products over alternatives. In the US, animal-source products receive 800 times more public funding and 190 times more lobbying money than alternatives; in the EU, they receive 1,200 times more public funding and three times more lobbying money.

APA

Changing Markets Foundation (2024). The New Merchants of Doubt: How Big Meat and Dairy Avoid Climate Action. https://changingmarkets.org/report/the-new-merchants-of-doubt-how-big-meat-and-dairy-avoid-climate-action/

Chicago

Changing Markets Foundation. The New Merchants of Doubt: How Big Meat and Dairy Avoid Climate Action. 2024. https://changingmarkets.org/report/the-new-merchants-of-doubt-how-big-meat-and-dairy-avoid-climate-action/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Changing Markets Foundation |title=The New Merchants of Doubt: How Big Meat and Dairy Avoid Climate Action |date=17 July 2024 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/report/the-new-merchants-of-doubt-how-big-meat-and-dairy-avoid-climate-action/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{changingmarketsfoundation2024new, author = {{Changing Markets Foundation}}, title = {{The New Merchants of Doubt: How Big Meat and Dairy Avoid Climate Action}}, institution = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2024}, month = jul, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/report/the-new-merchants-of-doubt-how-big-meat-and-dairy-avoid-climate-action/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }