Os Novos Mercadores da Dúvida

The report identifies a 'corporate playbook' used by the meat and dairy industry to avoid environmental regulation through three main tactics: distraction (greenwashing and funding biased science), procrastination (prioritizing advertising over low-carbon R&D), and dismantling (aggressive lobbying to weaken climate policies). It highlights how these strategies are applied globally, particularly in the EU, US, and Brazil, to maintain the status quo of animal agriculture.

• The meat and dairy industry employs three primary tactics to avoid climate action: 'distrair, protelar e desmontar' (distract, delay, and dismantle), mirroring strategies previously used by the tobacco and fossil fuel industries.
• Industry companies use 'greenwashing' and misleading net-zero targets to distract the public; of 22 companies analyzed, only 15 had any type of climate goal, and none met the UN's 'Integrity Matters' standard.
• The sector funds academic research to promote narratives that minimize the impact of methane, such as claiming it is part of a 'biogenic cycle' or promoting the GWP* metric to weaken climate commitments.
• Companies prioritize marketing over actual climate solutions, spending significantly more on advertising than on low-carbon research and development. For example, JBS spends only 6.2% of its annual advertising and marketing budget on net-zero projects.
• In the European Union, industry lobbying has successfully weakened the 'Green Deal' and the 'Farm to Fork' strategy, including the removal of a requirement to reduce agricultural emissions by 30% by 2040.
• In Brazil, the agribusiness lobby, primarily through the Frente Parlamentar da Agropecuária (FPA), exerts immense political influence, holding 374 seats in Congress as of 2023.
• Brazilian meat companies use 'cattle laundering' (lavagem de gado) and limited traceability to hide the origin of livestock from illegally deforested areas, particularly in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes.
• The Brazilian government provides substantial subsidies to the meat sector, with 79% of all taxes collected in the beef chain returning to the sector as subsidies.
• In Italy, the report identifies a campaign of online disinformation, often driven by influencers from the US, UK, and Sweden, to support the ban on cultivated meat by framing it as a threat to tradition and health.
• The report notes a systemic 'agricultural exceptionalism' where the sector avoids mandatory emissions reductions in favor of voluntary measures and financial incentives ('cenouras, sem chicotes').

APA

Changing Markets Foundation (2024). Os Novos Mercadores da Dúvida. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Portuguese-Executive-Summary-Brazil-case-study.pdf

Chicago

Changing Markets Foundation. Os Novos Mercadores da Dúvida. 2024. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Portuguese-Executive-Summary-Brazil-case-study.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Changing Markets Foundation |title=Os Novos Mercadores da Dúvida |date=July 2024 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Portuguese-Executive-Summary-Brazil-case-study.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{changingmarketsfoundation2024novos, author = {{Changing Markets Foundation}}, title = {{Os Novos Mercadores da Dúvida}}, institution = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2024}, month = jul, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Portuguese-Executive-Summary-Brazil-case-study.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }