Die neuen Händler des Zweifels

The report exposes how 'Big Ag' employs a playbook of distraction, delay, and obstruction—similar to tactics used by the tobacco and oil industries—to prevent the regulation of agricultural emissions and the transition to plant-based diets. Through the analysis of 22 major companies, the authors find that these corporations use greenwashing, industry-funded science to downplay methane's impact, and aggressive lobbying to maintain a 'carrot without a stick' policy environment where changes remain voluntary and subsidized.

• Major meat and dairy companies use a three-part strategy of 'distract, delay, and obstruct' to prevent climate action, mirroring the historical playbooks of the tobacco and oil industries.
• The industry employs 'greenwashing' and misleading marketing, particularly targeting Generation Z via social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, to present animal products as healthy and climate-friendly.
• Corporate climate goals generally lack integrity; of the 22 companies studied, only 15 had any climate goals, and none met the standards of the UN expert group published in the Integrity Matters Report at COP27.
• The industry funds scientific research to downplay the impact of methane emissions, promoting the GWP* metric and the concept of 'regenerative agriculture' to argue against the need to reduce livestock numbers.
• Companies prioritize advertising over actual climate investment; for example, JBS spends more on advertising and marketing (29 million euros) than on its net-zero efforts (18.99 million euros), with the latter representing only 0.03% of its 2022 revenue.
• In the EU, aggressive lobbying by groups such as Copa-Cogeca and the European Dairy Association (EDA) has successfully weakened the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork strategy, including the removal of a 30% agricultural emissions reduction commitment from the 2040 climate goal.
• In the United States, the industry benefits from a 'carrot without a stick' approach, where the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provides substantial funding for methane reduction that is not linked to proof of actual emissions decreases.
• The report identifies specific regional obstruction efforts, such as the use of disinformation to support the ban on cultivated meat in Italy and the use of 'fear-mongering' regarding food security to resist the Global Methane Pledge in Australia.

APA

Changing Markets Foundation (2024). Die neuen Händler des Zweifels. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/German-Executive-Summary-pdf.pdf

Chicago

Changing Markets Foundation. Die neuen Händler des Zweifels. 2024. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/German-Executive-Summary-pdf.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Changing Markets Foundation |title=Die neuen Händler des Zweifels |date=July 2024 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/German-Executive-Summary-pdf.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{changingmarketsfoundation2024die, author = {{Changing Markets Foundation}}, title = {{Die neuen Händler des Zweifels}}, institution = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2024}, month = jul, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/German-Executive-Summary-pdf.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }