The elephant in the room' - the presence of Big Ag lobbyists makes COP30 Forest talk empty rhetoric,' says ActionAid

Reacting to the finding by Kick Big Polluters Out that there are hundreds of agribusiness lobbyists at COP30, Teresa Anderson, ActionAid’s Global Lead on Climate Justice, said

“Agribusiness is the number one driver of deforestation. You’d think that, with COP30 being set in the Amazon, and all the Brazilian talk of saving the forests, that this would be the time for a serious conversation that puts Big Ag in the climate spotlight. After all, you can’t end deforestation without talking about the causes of deforestation.

“But somehow the COP30 organisers have performed an almost impressive act of contortion, simultaneously talking a big forest game while studiously avoiding any discussion of agribusiness’s destructive role. With the recent discovery that there are hundreds of Big Ag lobbyists in the halls, this suddenly makes sense. Their outsize presence means that agribusiness remains the elephant in the room - or the elephant in the forest.”

ENDS