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The report exposes how Brazil's powerful agribusiness sector uses political capture and greenwashing to avoid climate accountability, specifically by omitting agricultural methane from the country's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and lobbying to weaken environmental protections ahead of COP30.

The report argues that Brazil's agribusiness sector, dominated by giants like JBS, MBRF, and Minerva, exerts systemic control over political and public narratives to avoid climate regulation. It highlights a critical 'blind spot' in Brazil's updated NDC, which omits agricultural methane emissions despite the sector accounting for 75.6% of the country's total methane. The document details how the 'ruralist caucus' (FPA) controls Congress and pushes for controversial methane metrics like GWP* to downplay warming impacts. It also exposes the 'AgriZone' and other industry-led events surrounding COP30 as tools for greenwashing, while noting that structural weaknesses in the Climate Plan, Tax Reform, and Forest Code continue to favour industrial agriculture over sustainable agroecological farming.

The document is an open letter from a broad coalition of individuals and organizations calling for COP30 to move beyond the mere recognition of climate disinformation and instead implement binding, verifiable measures to protect information integrity. It argues that coordinated disinformation, primarily funded by the fossil fuel industry, sabotages the energy transition, threatens public health and human rights, and undermines the goals of the Paris Agreement. The signatories call on governments to regulate tech platforms that profit from manipulative content and demand an end to greenwashing and the monetization of disinformation.

In 2024, Global Witness documented 146 land and environmental defenders murdered or disappeared globally, with 82% of cases occurring in Latin America. The report identifies mining as the deadliest industry and highlights the disproportionate targeting of Indigenous Peoples and small-scale farmers. It examines specific crises in Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, the Philippines, Guatemala, and Palestine, while critiquing the failures of state protection mechanisms and the rise of criminalization. The document calls for the ratification of the Escazú Agreement, the implementation of mandatory corporate due diligence, and the formal recognition of defenders' roles in climate solutions ahead of COP30.

In 2024, 146 land and environmental defenders were murdered or disappeared globally, with 82% of cases occurring in Latin America. Mining remains the most lethal sector, followed by logging and agribusiness. The report highlights systemic failures in state protection, high levels of impunity, and the criminalization of activists. It specifically examines the precarious situation of indigenous and peasant communities in Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, the Philippines, Honduras, Guatemala, and Chile, while also addressing the environmental destruction and land expropriation in occupied Palestinian territories. The document calls for the ratification of the Escazú Agreement, the implementation of the EU's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, and the guaranteed safe participation of defenders in COP30.

In 2024, 146 environmental and land defenders were killed or disappeared globally, with 82% of cases occurring in Latin America. The report identifies mining as the deadliest industry for defenders and highlights the role of organized crime and state actors in these attacks. It specifically examines the critical situations in Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, the Philippines, Honduras, and Guatemala, while detailing the systemic failures of state protection mechanisms and the criminalization of activism. The document calls for the ratification of the Escazú Agreement, the implementation of binding corporate due diligence laws, and the recognition of defenders' roles in climate solutions ahead of COP30.

The briefing reports a significant increase in Google Ads by oil companies globally and specifically in Brazil leading up to COP30 in November 2025. It highlights that while global oil ads spiked by 218% in October 2025, ads targeting Brazil increased by 2,900%, with Petrobras accounting for nearly 70% of these. The document argues that these campaigns are part of a broader disinformation strategy to secure a 'social licence' for continued fossil fuel investment, contrasting public 'green' narratives with actual investment patterns and environmental records. It recommends increased regulatory intervention, including a potential ban on fossil fuel advertising similar to tobacco regulations.

The report argues that 'Big Carbon' (fossil fuel and agribusiness) and 'Big Tech' collaborate to create a 'false social reality' that makes the vast majority of people who support climate action feel like a minority. It details a history of obstruction, from the 1959 warnings to oil executives to the 2009 'Climategate' hack-and-leak attack, and analyzes modern digital tactics used to sabotage UN COPs. The document highlights specific disinformation trends in Brazil leading up to COP30, including the use of generative AI to create fake flood imagery. It concludes by proposing structural solutions such as the EU's Digital Services Act, greenwashing laws in France, and the Global Initiative on Information Integrity on Climate Change (GIIICC).

The report details the strategies used by carbon-intensive industries and big tech to obstruct climate policies through disinformation, polarising narratives, and digital 'distortion mirrors'. It highlights specific cases in Brazil, the historical impact of the 'Climagate' scandal, and the systemic role of social media platforms in creating a 'false social reality' that makes the majority of people who support climate action feel like a minority. The document advocates for structural solutions, such as the Global Initiative for Climate Change Information Integrity (GIIICC) and legislative measures like the EU's Digital Services Act, to protect the information environment ahead of COP30.

The document is a joint open letter signed by 189 individuals and numerous organisations calling for the COP30 summit to address the systemic threat of climate disinformation. The signatories argue that the proliferation of false information undermines the Paris Agreement and hinders the transition to a sustainable future. They demand that COP30 establish a formal framework for information integrity, increase transparency regarding the funding of climate-related communications, and hold actors accountable for the intentional spread of disinformation. The letter emphasizes that without a commitment to truth and evidence-based policy, global efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C are at risk.

A group of creators and experts argues that Edelman's simultaneous representation of COP30 hosts and at least 10 fossil fuel polluters, including Shell, creates a conflict of interest that threatens the integrity of climate communications. The signers call on UN leaders and the Brazilian government to ensure COP30 updates are untainted by oil industry influence, suggesting Brazil should terminate its relationship with Edelman if the firm does not drop its fossil fuel clients.

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) highlights the commitment of over 50 state and local leaders and private sector representatives to science-based climate action at COP30, while criticizing the absence of U.S. Congressional delegations due to a government shutdown. EESI notes that only Senator Sheldon Whitehouse attended as a federal official and emphasizes that the Brazil Presidency's Action Agenda successfully linked international decisions to ground-level solutions.

The LEAD coalition, supported by Global Witness and over 100 organisations, has proposed a set of rights-based recommendations for the COP30 Host Country Agreement (HCA). These proposals aim to safeguard civic space, ensure unrestricted observer access, and protect frontline climate defenders from retaliation and surveillance during the event in Belém, Brazil.

An investigation by Global Witness found that AI chatbots vary significantly in their tendency to share climate disinformation based on user personalisation. Grok demonstrated the highest risk, endorsing conspiracy tropes, recommending known climate misinformers, and offering to make social media posts more "violent" to increase engagement. ChatGPT provided some conspiratorial content to the sceptic persona but included cautionary notes and scientific consensus. MetaAI showed the least personalisation, providing similar information to both conventional and conspiratorial personas.

Global Witness predicts that climate disinformation will increase in 2025, driven by extreme weather events, the monetization of climate denial via AdTech and generative AI, and targeted campaigns against climate defenders during COP30 in Brazil. The organization calls for the robust enforcement of the EU's Digital Services Act to hold social media platforms accountable.

The fact sheet emphasizes that a just energy transition must be measured by transformed lives rather than megawatts. It highlights critical gaps in Latin America, including the persistence of energy poverty, a significant imbalance between fossil fuel and renewable energy employment, and the prevalence of socio-environmental conflicts. The document calls for COP 30 to establish binding citizen participation mechanisms and policies for workforce reconversion to prevent deepening social and territorial inequalities.