Plus, Join DeSmog at the Climate Consciousness Summit ...
From the Editor's Desk
Many headlines about this year’s UN climate talks, which launched Monday in the Amazonian city of Belém, Brazil, focus on the absence of U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. business representatives at the talks.
But Silicon Valley chip-manufacturer Nvidia still managed to peddle its energy-guzzling AI tools to Brazilian oil and gas companies just before the summit started.
DeSmog’s Rei Takver reveals that during the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), which gathered thousands of oil and gas representatives in Rio de Janeiro last week, Nvidia sent a senior energy staffer to sell bespoke AI software to help oil giants produce more fossil fuels.
Nvidia did so even though the tech giant markets itself as a creator of AI-driven climate crisis solutions, and has made the (contested) claim that 100 percent of its prodigious electricity consumption comes from renewable sources.
It remains unclear whether Nvidia will show up at the COP30 summit itself. But this year’s UN talks — billed as the last chance to revive global climate action — also faces unprecedented pressure from Big Food and Big Ag’s largest polluters.
DeSmog’s Rachel Sherrington and Brazilian freelance reporter Gil Alessi map out how some of the highest emitters from the food sector are moving to shape the COP30 agenda — positioning industrial farming not as part of the problem but as a climate solution.
Behind the scenes, food and farming corporations, including meat giant JBS, food processor Nestlé, and pesticide firm Bayer — which all sell products that drive both climate change, deforestation and biodiversity destruction — are promoting a set of actions to tackle global warming that leave their business models intact — or better still, require public investment.
Representatives from these and other companies, along with a suite of trade associations and front groups — are bringing their message to COP30 panel events and attending glitzy receptions, under the logos of sponsored media hubs and pavilions.
Rachel and Gil have the story.
Want more on-the-ground coverage from our team at COP30 — along with new ways of responding to the climate crisis? Sign up for the Climate Consciousness Summit 2025, a transformative seven-day online event that brings together leading voices in climate action, trauma-informed care, and regenerative solutions.
Staged by the Pocket Project in partnership with DeSmog, and co-hosted by Matthew Green, DeSmog’s global investigations editor, this free online event starts Friday, Nov. 14 and runs until Nov. 20, 2025.
Read more about the summit and sign up here.
Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: [email protected]. Want to know what our UK team is up to? Sign up for our UK newsletter.
Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director
P.S. Readers like you power our journalism dedicated to climate accountability. Can you donate $10 or $20 right now to support more of this essential work?
Image Credit: DeSmog
Nvidia Flogged AI for Brazilian Oil and
Gas on Eve of COP30
— By Rei Takver (6 min. read) —
The tech giant was in Rio de Janeiro hawking AI software to fossil fuel firms just days before crucial climate crisis negotiations in the Amazon.
Mapped: Big Food’s Routes
to Influence at COP30
— By Rachel Sherrington and Gil Alessi (9 min. read) —
A summit billed as the last chance to revive global climate action faces unprecedented pressure from the food sector’s largest emitters.
Revealed: U.S. Dairy Industry Push to Water Down Global Emissions Framework
—By Clare Carlile (6 min. read) —
Proposed changes to the GHG Protocol would lead to double counting of carbon reductions in the livestock sector, experts say.
Brazil’s COP30 Agriculture Sponsors Linked to Deforestation and Land Conflict
— By Naira Hofmeister and Lucy Jordan, Unearthed (7 min. read) —
Organisers offered pesticide giants and agribusiness lobby group “visibility” and “image gain” in return for financial contributions to climate summit’s Agrizone.
The Telegraph’s Record of Climate Falsehoods
— By Sam Bright (5 min. read) —
The newspaper has been scolding the BBC for its editorial failings, while issuing a string of climate corrections.
From the Climate Disinformation Database: Bayer
Bayer is a life sciences company headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany, with three divisions: pharmaceuticals, consumer health and crop science. Agrochemicals comprise 45.8 percent of Bayer’s annual global sales revenues. In 2021, the majority of Bayer’s sales were in the United States at 30.4 percent, followed by the combined Europe, Middle East and Africa markets at 24 percent. In its 2022 response to the European Commission’s proposal to revise EU pesticide laws, Bayer stated: “Pesticides can also play a role in enabling agriculture to lower greenhouse gas emissions and remove carbon from the atmosphere: they reduce the need for farmers to till their soil, which in turn leads to reduced fossil fuels consumption and soil disturbance.” The benefits of no-till farming are widely considered to be unproven, and studies suggest that no-till farming may increase the use of pesticides. According to a March 2021 presentation, Bayer plans to launch over 75 new fungicide, insecticide and herbicide formulations in the next decade.
Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database, Ad & PR Database, and Koch Network Database.
