Bayer and Brazil — the lobbying behind COP30

German agrochemical giant Bayer declared the UN climate summit in Brazil (COP30) "an outstanding opportunity for agribusiness to be seen as part of the solution to the challenges posed by climate change".

While the company  — and its agribusiness allies — used this global stage to promote false solutions disguised as green technologies, it's hoping you won't notice that its business model is at the structural root of many of Brazil's environmental problems, and driving its greenhouse gas emissions. 

It’s as welcome as the tobacco industry turning up at a WHO summit on cancer to offer its helpful solutions (which is, by the way, prevented by article 3.5 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control).

Here's why.

Bayer wields great political influence in Brazil, embedded as it has been for decades in the extremely powerful agribusiness complex in the country. 

That agribusiness complex — and its livestock and production of feed crops such as soy, in which Bayer plays a key role — is considered the main driver of climate change in Brazil, as well as about 97 percent of rainforest destruction and subsequent biodiversity loss in recent years. 

Brazil is one of the 10 largest greenhouse gas emitters in the world. Agriculture is the largest contributor, with direct emissions of 29 percent, and a major driver of the 43 percent of emissions attributed to ‘land use change’, as much of these come from deforestation for agricultural purposes. 

The cultivation of monoculture crops like soy, corn, and sugar cane not only drives deforestation, they are also extremely chemical-intensive. In fact, Brazil is now the world’s biggest consumer of chemicals in agriculture.

The volume of pesticides consumed in 2024 increased 8.5 percent compared to 2023, reaching a total of 1.5 million tonnes.

Bayer is the second biggest company responsible for this trade (after Syngenta, a company which is part of the official Swiss delegation to COP30).

Specifically, the expansion of soy crops to fragile and protected areas in the Amazon and Cerrado is based on the massive use of pesticides.

And yet Bayer is greenwashing this horrible track record at COP30, and presenting its proposals as helpful solutions. 

Lobby power

Bayer and its agribusiness allies are out in force at COP30. Bayer brought a record 19 delegates, according to research from the global campaign Kick Big Polluters Out! and Desmog.

In total, there are more than 300 Big Food and Big Ag delegates at the UN summit, many populating the ‘Agrizone’ pavilion of the COP30 site sponsored by Bayer.

That sponsorship reflects Bayer's tendency to spend big on lobbying, with a total global budget of €50m in 2023 alone, and another €25m on membership to myriad corporate lobby groups worldwide, such as Croplife, chemical lobby association Cefic, and many others.

In Brazil, its lobby budget appears to pay off: a 2024 study by investigative journalist consortium O Joio e o Trigo and Fiquem Sabendo revealed that Bayer had the highest number of meetings with government officials, roughly once a fortnight. 

The company was at COP30 to convince the world that its impact on the climate crisis is positive.

Stakes are high as Latin America accounts for around 30 percent of global agricultural revenue for Bayer, with Brazil the second most important country after the US.

Bayer also played a key role during the recent 24th Congress of Brazilian Agribusiness as the main sponsor.

The congress was organised by the Brazilian Agribusiness Association (ABAG) and B3 (Brazilian Stock Exchange) and declared: “the sector is ready to lead the climate agenda”. What this really means is: the agribusiness sector is ready to receive funding, and profit from, all kinds of carbon trading. 

Like many multinationals, Bayer claims that offsets compensate for some of its climate sins, yet these schemes often fail to deliver.

In 2023, Die Zeit reported on accounting errors by Verra – the company that certifies supposed savings of carbon emissions – amounting to 89 million tonnes of CO2. In some cases, the forests involved no longer existed, and in others, Verra — which counts Bayer among its customers — had rounded up the figures. Die Zeit concluded the offset certificate's value was "a pile of rubbish"; and that furthermore the balance sheets for other forest protection projects are no better.

Other fine-sounding solutions promoted by Bayer and its agribusiness cohorts at COP30 include the “adoption of low carbon technologies, expansion of crop-livestock-forestry systems, regenerative practices to restore soils and protect water sources and strengthening productive resilience in the face of extreme weather events”.

Sounds good?

Bayer promotes its flagship pesticide glyphosate as a "regenerative practice" claiming it reduces emissions from soil — yet ignores the emissions used to produce the chemical.

"Sustainable intensification" is the magic buzzword and "regenerative agriculture" is the magic remedy.

Just don't look too closely at the real drivers of the climate crisis or the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Bayer promises all this without sacrificing its production nor its profits.

Don't fall for the agribusiness greenwash; listen instead to the many Indigenous people at COP30 who are not buying what they are selling, and are making their voices heard: “We refuse to be sacrificed for agribusiness. Our forest is not for sale. We are the ones who protect the climate, and the Amazon cannot continue to be destroyed to enrich large corporations.”

The creation at COP30 of a new multi-billion dollar fund called ‘Tropical Forest Forever Facility’ led by Brazil and hosted at the World Bank , at first sight seems like a positive step, but it is precisely the kind of market-oriented policies that companies like Bayer love: “private investments for protecting forests while promising financial returns”.

Every month, hundreds of thousands of people read the journalism and opinion published by EUobserver. With your support, millions of others will as well.

If you're not already, become a supporting member today.