US Meat Lobby Optimistic After Ag Event

Lobbyists for the world’s biggest meat companies have praised the better-than-expected outcome of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (also known as Cop28), which they said left them “excited” and “enthusiastic” about their industry prospects, according to The Guardian.

Constance Cullman, the president of the Animal Feed Industry Association, a U.S. lobby group whose members include some of the world’s biggest meat and animal feed producers, praised the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Global Roadmap to tackle the climate crisis and end hunger, adding that she welcomed the report’s emphasis on “production and efficiency” over “reduced consumption of animal protein.”

The Guardian reports that campaigners and climate scientists thought the event would result in governments agreeing to transform food systems; however, although 130 governments vowed to address agriculture’s carbon footprint, binding targets were not set, and the event did not address reducing herds of certain types of livestock to address emissions.

Sophie Nodzenski, senior campaign strategist on food and agriculture at Greenpeace International, indicated that it made sense that lobbyists felt positive following the event “given that their interests essentially took the central stage there.”

“Cop28 has rightly put the spotlight on the link between food production and the climate crisis, but the sheer number of Big Ag lobbyists present gave them an outsized influence,” Nodzenski said. The report found that smallholder and family farmers felt “drowned out” amidst the number of lobbyists for meat and dairy companies. Full Story