The evidence is clear that, without significant dietary shifts towards more plant-based foods, the climate impacts of the agriculture industry will prevent our achievement of emissions reduction targets under the Paris Climate Agreement. Livestock production is one of the main drivers of global deforestation and a major contributor to global methane emissions, yet it has attracted minimal attention at global climate negotiations. Emerging research suggests that this lack of attention towards agriculture’s GHG emissions is, in part, due to efforts by the livestock industry to obstruct climate policies targeting the agriculture sector. However, pressure is growing for the agriculture sector to help meet net-zero targets, both through emissions reduction and carbon sequestration. In this paper, we examine how animal agri-business is responding to these pressures and the extent to which the industry’s behaviour at the global level echoes the climate obstruction strategies documented in national contexts. Drawing on event ethnography conducted at COP30 in Belém and COP31 in Antalya, we apply a discursive-institutionalist lens to explore how discourses of climate delay and obstruction strategies manifest in the COP arena, and highlight how agri-business is seeking to influence international negotiations in ways that hinder effective climate action.
