Message From the Editor
After decades of climate denial and delay by big agribusiness, the pesticides industry now appears to have become a climate champion. It’s no secret that pesticides manufacturing is closely wedded to fossil fuels (a lot of key ingredients in many pesticides are derived from oil and gas). But now, manufacturers are heavily promoting strategies to convince farmers and policymakers that these same fossil fuel-based products still have a large role to play as the world warms. To do this, the industry is dedicating huge resources in marketing climate action strategies attached to two labels: precision agriculture and regenerative agriculture. Check out DeSmog’s full investigation. [[link removed]]
Also check out our new Agribusiness Database [[link removed]] where you can find a record of companies and organizations’ messaging on climate change, lobbying around climate action, and histories of climate science denial.
Meanwhile, the auto industry is facing some reputation challenges as well. The world’s leading car makers are not doing enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with international climate targets, according to new assessments released by the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA). These companies are also failing to address or even report on human rights issues. Dana Drugmand has the full report [[link removed]].
This comes at the same time as climate deniers try to convince the world that electric vehicles aren’t actually that great for the planet. A new report questioning EVs from the Competitive Enterprise Institute is the latest attempt by organizations associated with fossil fuel funding to slow the transition away from petroleum-based transportation. As one expert told DeSmog: “It’s designed to sow doubt and slow the transition [to electric vehicles]. If you’re coming from a point of view that climate change isn’t real, then maybe EVs don’t make sense, but that’s not reality.” Read all about it here [[link removed]].
Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director
P.S. DeSmog’s public interest journalism is powered by readers like you. Can you pitch in $10 or $20 right now [[link removed]]?
Investigation: How Pesticide Companies Are Marketing Themselves as a Solution to Climate Change [[link removed]]— By Sharon Kelly and Frances Rankin (15 min. read) —
“Like a pandemic, climate change is an inevitable threat that we must address before it is too late,” reads a June 2020 statement. “As the economy and agriculture begin to build back with the gradual easing of the COVID-19 restrictions, we need to support a recovery for farmers that puts the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss at its core.”
The speaker? Not Greta Thunberg, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Al Gore. Not, in fact, any environmentalist you might care to imagine. Instead, it was Erik Fyrwald, Chief Executive Officer of Syngenta Group — one of the world’s five largest pesticides manufacturers, a major consumer of fossil fuels, and now a company marketing its products as a solution to climate change.
READ MORE [[link removed]] Automakers Show 'Concerning' Lack of Engagement on Human Rights and Climate, Analyses Reveal [[link removed]]— By Dana Drugmand (8 min. read) —
The world’s leading automakers are not doing enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with international climate targets and are failing to address or even report on human rights issues, according to new assessments released by the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA).
The assessments include an update to a report launched last year scoring over two dozen automakers on progress towards the low-carbon transition and other measures of climate action, as well as a new analysis on automakers’ human rights disclosures. These assessments or “benchmarks” are developed by the WBA, an independent collaboration of more than 170 global organizations which evaluates corporate performance according to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
READ MORE [[link removed]] Climate Deniers Are Claiming EVs Are Bad for the Environment — Again. Here’s Why They’re Wrong. [[link removed]]— By Dana Drugmand (8 min. read) —
A new paper published Tuesday, November 17, by the conservative think tank the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), raises environmental concerns with electric vehicles in what appears to be the latest attempt by organizations associated with fossil fuel funding to pump the brakes on the transportation sector’s transition away from petroleum and towards cleaner electricity.
In the U.S., the transportation sector is the largest contributor to planet-warming emissions. Climate and energy policy experts say electrifying vehicles is necessary to mitigate these emissions.
READ MORE [[link removed]] Norway’s Supreme Court to Decide on Climate Lawsuit Challenging Offshore Arctic Oil Drilling [[link removed]]— By Dana Drugmand (5 min. read) —
The Supreme Court of Norway is set to rule in a high-profile climate change lawsuit challenging the Norwegian government’s licensing of new offshore oil drilling in the fragile and rapidly warming Arctic region. The forthcoming decision from Norway’s highest court could, for the first time anywhere in the world, invalidate offshore petroleum production on climate change grounds.
Hearings before the country's Supreme Court in the case, dubbed The People v. Arctic Oil, began on November 4 and concluded on November 12; a decision is expected within the next few months.
READ MORE [[link removed]] From the Climate Disinformation Database: FTI Consulting [[link removed]]
FTI Consulting [[link removed]] describes itself as “an independent global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations manage change, mitigate risk and resolve disputes: financial, legal, operational, political & regulatory, reputational and transactional.” The consulting group recently appeared in the news with revelations about how it helped design, staff, and run organizations and websites funded by energy companies but appears to represent grassroots support for fossil fuels. And as DeSmog previously revealed, FTI Consulting helped launch the Energy In Depth campaign on behalf of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA).
Read the full profile [[link removed]] and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database [[link removed]] or our new Koch Network Database [[link removed]].
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