The Coronavirus Climate Profiteers

The report identifies 'coronavirus profiteers' across the meat, auto, airline, logging, and fossil fuel industries who lobbied for deregulation and subsidies during the pandemic. It contrasts these with 'climate heroes'—including certain European automakers, EU leadership, and specific palm oil companies—who continued to pursue emissions reductions and forest protection. The text emphasizes that weakening environmental protections, such as allowing deforestation and air pollution, increases public health vulnerability to respiratory diseases and future pandemics.

• The industrial meat and biofuel sectors have received significant government funding despite their role in pollution and deforestation. Specifically, agricultural interests received $30 billion in trade assistance subsidies over two years, including $67 million for JBS, which is described as the largest cattle company globally and the primary driver of deforestation in Brazil.
• Automakers in the U.S. and Europe have attempted to use the pandemic to roll back fuel efficiency and climate standards. In the U.S., the Trump administration gutted fuel efficiency standards that would have prevented 1.5 billion metric tons of pollution, with support from lobbyists for GM, Toyota, and Daimler. In Europe, Daimler and Renault lobbyists requested the weakening of 2020 and 2030 climate goals.
• The U.S. airline industry received $29 billion in loans and giveaways, while successfully lobbying against a House Democratic provision that would have made this aid conditional on achieving carbon neutrality. The report also notes a specific bailout for the private jet industry that removed fuel and excise taxes for the remainder of the year.
• Indonesia's Trade Ministry revoked rules requiring certification that wood was produced legally on March 26, citing the need to boost timber exports during the economic slowdown. This decision may jeopardize trade with the EU and China, as both regions have restrictions against illegally logged wood.
• The fossil fuel and plastics industries used the pandemic to evade regulations. The EPA suspended enforcement of various air and water rules on March 26 following a request from the American Petroleum Institute. Simultaneously, the plastics industry lobbied to roll back single-use plastic bans in San Francisco, Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire by claiming reusable bags were 'virus-laden'.
• Certain entities have resisted the trend of deregulation: Volkswagen and BMW expressed support for 2020 climate standards, and the European Commission is consulting on increasing its greenhouse gas emission cut target from 40% to 50-55% from 1990 levels.
• Several large palm oil companies, including Wilmar, Louis Dreyfus, ADM, Bunge, and Cargill, stopped purchasing from the Samling company after it was found to have cleared nearly 1,000 acres of forest in 2019.

APA

Hurowitz, G. (n.d.). The Coronavirus Climate Profiteers. Mighty Earth. https://stories.mightyearth.org/the-coronavirus-climate-profiteers/index.html

Chicago

Hurowitz, Glenn. The Coronavirus Climate Profiteers. Mighty Earth, n.d. https://stories.mightyearth.org/the-coronavirus-climate-profiteers/index.html.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hurowitz |first1=Glenn |title=The Coronavirus Climate Profiteers |publisher=Mighty Earth |url=https://stories.mightyearth.org/the-coronavirus-climate-profiteers/index.html |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hurowitzndcoronavirus, author = {Hurowitz, Glenn}, title = {{The Coronavirus Climate Profiteers}}, institution = {Mighty Earth}, url = {https://stories.mightyearth.org/the-coronavirus-climate-profiteers/index.html}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }