Welcome to Carbon Brief’s Cropped.
We handpick and explain the most important stories at the intersection of climate, land, food and nature over the past fortnight.
This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s fortnightly Cropped email newsletter. Subscribe for free here.
Key developments
Food systems on the menu at COP29
MITIGATING METHANE: Yesterday was “food, agriculture and water day” at COP29, with a number of new initiatives and updates to existing initiatives announced. Down to Earth reported that more than 30 countries had endorsed the COP29 Declaration on Reducing Methane from Organic Waste, which includes a commitment to including sectoral targets in countries’ climate pledges. It added that the European Commission “welcomed the declaration, but did not endorse the pledge” due to a lack of time to consult with all member states.
PEACE AND HARMONIYA: The COP29 presidency also announced the Baku Harmoniya Climate Initiative for Farmers on Tuesday, in partnership with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. The Harmoniya initiative has three stated priorities: creating a “streamlined knowledge hub” for improving collaboration and knowledge-sharing; making investment in food systems more attractive to both public and private investors; and empowering women and youth farmers to adapt to climate change. The declaration said: “Given the multitude of initiatives, there is a need for coherence, alignment and sharing of lessons learned to deliver greater impact.” No new commitments or funding accompanied Harmoniya’s release.
CHAMPIONING CHANGE: Food day also delivered an update on one of the key food-systems announcements from last year’s summit, the Alliance of Champions for Food Systems Transformation (ACF) – a group of six countries that had committed to taking stronger action on transforming food systems. During the summit, the ACF released a “progress snapshot” highlighting actions and policies each country had taken towards the priority action areas defined by the ACF. Tanzania confirmed its intention to join the coalition, the Guardian said. Vietnam also reportedly expressed their interest in joining.
AIM FOR THE SKY: Devex reported that the Agriculture Innovation Mechanism for Scale (AIM for Scale) initiative “has introduced its first package of investments”, which amounts to $1bn to strengthen weather forecasting for farmers. This “includes both new and existing investments from a consortium of global partners”, such as the World Bank, the US Agency for International Development and NASA. According to Emirates News Agency, investments in “climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation” through the wider AIM for Climate initiative total $29.2bn to date. DeSmog previously reported concerns that the solutions pushed by AIM for Climate “are not the kinds of technology that will benefit small-scale farmers in Africa”.
‘Big ag’ in Baku
COP LOBBYING: Hundreds of “lobbyists for industrial farming” attended COP29, analysis from DeSmog and the Guardian found, with more than 200 delegates from agriculture companies and trade groups at the talks. Nearly 40% travelled with delegations of countries, such as Brazil, “giving them privileged access to diplomatic negotiations”, the Guardian noted. The number of industrial agriculture attendees dropped from “record highs” of 340 at last year’s summit, the newspaper said. They represent “some of the world’s largest agribusiness companies, including the Brazilian meatpacker JBS, the animal pharmaceuticals company Elanco and the food giant PepsiCo”, the Guardian said. DeSmog and the Guardian also revealed that a “record” 1,261 business and industry delegates registered to attend last month’s COP16 biodiversity summit.
OFFSET ADVICE: The UK released new guidelines for voluntary carbon and nature markets in Baku, BusinessGreen reported. These aim to give “clearer guidelines to companies involved in the purchase, sale and development of carbon offsets and nature credits”, the outlet said. One of the guidelines advises that credits should “complement” emissions-cutting and other climate action, not replace them. These represent a “vote of confidence in a largely experimental financial product that’s intended to protect biodiversity”, Bloomberg said. (Read Carbon Brief’s Q&A on biodiversity offsets.) Meanwhile, Brazil’s Congress signed off on a bill setting rules for a national carbon market, according to Reuters.
FARMER FUNDS: New analysis released during COP29 found that 14% of global public climate finance for agriculture and land use went to activities relevant to small-scale farmers in 2021-22. This is a small portion given that these farmers produce 70-80% of the food eaten in Africa and Asia, according to advisory company Climate Focus, which completed the analysis. Covering the report, Bloomberg spoke to Esther Penunia, secretary general of the Asian Farmers Association, who said: “[Climate change is] affecting our crops, our yields and therefore our incomes.” The Associated Press spoke to Penunia and others about climate finance for small farmers. Elsewhere, a policy paper found that “regenerative farming” has “shown promising results” in Africa and India, First Post said.
Spotlight
The ups and downs of Brazil’s new climate pledge
Brazil released its new climate pledge at COP29 last week, committing to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 59-67% by 2035. Here, Carbon Brief speaks to two Brazilian experts about the implications of the new nationally determined contribution (NDC).
Dr Ane Alencar is the director of science at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute. Claudio Angelo is the coordinator of international policy at Observatório do Clima, a Brazilian network of civil-society organisations. The interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
For more on Brazil’s NDC, see Carbon Brief’s just-published article on the five key takeaways.
Carbon Brief: What is your opinion on Brazil’s new NDC?
Ane Alencar: Even with all the difficulties we have in Brazil, there is a commitment of the government to actually move forward and be more ambitious [on climate change]. I think they did that…even though I think it could be a little bit more. But I think this is an important step.
Claudio Angelo: Policy-wise, it’s a pretty good NDC…We can say that the NDC reflects a shift of gear for Brazil and that’s important. But, again, we’re talking about policies. We’re not talking about the target. And the target of the NDC is very weak. You can’t say it is 1.5-aligned…There are things Brazil is already doing, such as tackling deforestation in the Amazon…So, I would say [the] direction of travel is right, but the speed is totally wrong.
CB: How does the NDC compare to previous pledges made by the Brazilian government?
CA: If you look at what Brazil has already committed to doing – for instance, zero deforestation, the methane pledge, [which is a] 30% reduction in methane, just the sheer pace of increase of renewable energies in the energy mix…There’s a new sustainable fuels legislation that was just passed this year. If you put all those things together, Brazil could aim much higher than the current limits…We’re hoping to get an increased ambition ahead of COP30. I think there’s [a] margin for that in the NDC. We will certainly push for [the new NDC] to be the ambition floor, not the ambition ceiling.
CB: Are the NDC promises to combat deforestation strong enough?
AA: The government has done a very good job in the past to reach that important reduction of deforestation…However, we do have to deal with the fact that there are people who still can deforest legally. And what would be the incentives for these people to not deforest? The incentives that exist today seem not to be enough.
CB: Are pledges to boost “sustainable agriculture” sufficient to meet climate goals?
AA: I think the agriculture sector is one that can provide lots of contribution, by improving their practices, investing in technologies to reduce the cattle contributions and also with soil management…If the Brazilian agriculture sector really goes in the direction of sustainability, then I think it’s possible to actually fulfil the NDC targets.
News and views
G20 TALKS: At the G20 summit, Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, presented a new “alliance” to tackle poverty and hunger, Al Jazeera reported. It added that 81 countries signed the initiative. Before the summit, Joe Biden became the first US president to visit the Amazon rainforest, the Associated Press reported. In his speech, he said that the incoming administration of president-elect Donald Trump would not be able to halt his country’s progress on clean energy, the newswire added. Meanwhile, Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, proposed allocating 1% of military expenditure to fund a global reforestation programme, which could free up $24bn annually to support 6m farmers to plant 15m hectares of trees.
‘GROUNDBREAKING’ DISCOVERY: The world’s largest coral, measuring more than 34 metres wide and 32 metres long, was discovered by a team of scientists in the Solomon Islands, Pasifika Environews reported. The outlet dubbed the discovery “groundbreaking” and noted that the coral structure is between 300 and 500 years old. It quoted Enric Sala, executive director of National Geographic’s Pristine Seas project, who stressed the urgency “for rich countries to invest significantly in reducing carbon emissions to combat threats like ocean warming and acidification” as negotiations at COP29 continue. Elsewhere, a “graveyard of corals” was found off an island on the Great Barrier Reef after months of extreme weather, the Guardian said.
AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT: Air pollution in Delhi “hit 50 times the safe limit” this week, due in part to “farmers burn]ing] crop residue in agricultural areas”, according to the Associated Press. In response, the government has started enacting strict control measures, including banning most trucks from entering the city and moving school classes online. According to the Times of India, more than 1,250 agricultural fires were recorded in the state of Punjab on Monday, “the highest single-day tally of the season”. Delhi’s environment minister, Gopal Rai, said “the time has come for artificial rain to remove this smog cover and provide relief to the people”.
FARMER FURY: Thousands of farmers “descended” on Westminster in London to “protest a tax hike they say will deal a ‘hammer blow’ to struggling family farms”, the Associated Press reported. The UK government recently announced plans to get rid of a tax break that would introduce a 20% inheritance tax for farms worth more than £1m from 2026. (BBC News factchecked how many farms this might affect.) “Everyone’s mad” at this change, the co-organiser of the protest, Olly Harrison, told AP, adding that many “want to take to the streets and block roads and go full French”. (Farmers held a so-called “siege of Paris” earlier this year amid widespread EU farmer protests.) In ongoing farmer protests across the Channel, French farmers and their tractors blocked roads around the country to protest a trade deal between the EU and Mercosur countries in South America, according to Le Monde.
PUSHBACK: European lawmakers voted to “water down” and delay the EU’s anti-deforestation law, Reuters reported. The European Commission recently proposed a one-year delay for the law, which was due to take effect this December. This delay was backed by the European parliament in a 14 November vote, the newswire said, adding that politicians also voted to “add a new ‘no risk’ category of countries with far lighter controls”. This would “severely weaken” the law, BirdLife said in a statement, “making it inadequate to address global deforestation”. Elsewhere, BBC News said that Denmark signed off on the finer details of its world-first tax on farming emissions. (See Carbon Brief’s Q&A on the Danish plan.)
HIDDEN COSTS: Agrifood systems contain “hidden costs” – such as unaccounted for impacts on health and the environment – totalling around $12tn annually, the latest State of Food and Agriculture report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization found. More than 70% of the costs stem from unhealthy dietary patterns and are linked to non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes. The hidden environmental costs outlined in the report included emissions of greenhouse gases, nitrogen run-off and water pollution.
Watch, read, listen
GOING GREEN: Yale Environment 360 explored Brazil’s “bioeconomy”, which the country’s president hopes can act as a guide for other governments.
KITTENS CORRIDORS: A Mongabay podcast addressed why biological corridors are important for feline species in Latin America, such as puma, ocelot and jaguar.
PROMPTING TRANSITION: An NBC video showed how a nonprofit organisation helps farmers in North Carolina transition from traditional livestock to sustainable agriculture.
GO FISH: Scientists thought the Mekong giant salmon carp was extinct. But one scientist kept looking – and recently published evidence of its survival, the New York Times reported.
New science
- New research in Ecological Economics found that climate change-induced migration of Nigerian herders seeking new grazing sites is a “key driver” of conflict between the herders and farmers. However, the study added, respondents who understood climate as the driving factor behind the migration were more likely to support policies that integrated herders into their community.
- In the 2019-20 Australian “megafires”, plants and animals were worst affected in areas that were frequently burned or had recently burned in the past, according to a new Nature study. The “unprecedented” fires had a small, but overall negative impact on the abundance and occurrence of species, the researchers found.
- Reduced deforestation brings health benefits to Amazon populations, according to new research in Communications Earth and Environment. The study found that reduced deforestation pressure lowers the incidence of forest fires, lowering particulate matter concentrations and decreasing respiratory health problems for local communities.
In the diary
- 28 November: [Lecture] Towards a liveable planet: land, energy and food system transitions | Oxford, UK and Online
- 25 November-1 December: 5th session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution | Busan, South Korea
- 5 December: World Soil Day
- 2-13 December: COP16 of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Cropped is researched and written by Dr Giuliana Viglione, Aruna Chandrasekhar, Daisy Dunne, Orla Dwyer and Yanine Quiroz. Please send tips and feedback to cropped@carbonbrief.org.
The post Cropped 20 November 2024: Food at COP29; ‘Big ag’ in Baku; Brazil’s new climate pledge appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Cropped 20 November 2024: Food at COP29; ‘Big ag’ in Baku; Brazil’s new climate pledge
Climate Change
“Sink or swim”: WA Gov hugely underestimating decline in regional gas demand while sleeping on green exports, new report finds
PERTH, Tuesday 13 October 2026 — A new report from Greenpeace Australia Pacific and Springmount Advisory reveals green commodity exports are an untapped economic opportunity for Western Australia in a declining Asian gas market, while offering a genuine solution for decarbonising Asia.
From Gas to Green: Building Western Australia’s Future State is a comprehensive analysis of the declining gas market in Asia, and the untapped economic opportunity for WA to become a global leader in green commodity exports while driving the regional shift away from fossil fuels.
The report offers key recommendations for the WA Government to support regional decarbonisation through an orderly phase out of gas exports in favour of green iron and other green exports. It comes as global climate leaders from across business, politics and advocacy prepare to meet for the Global Citizen Now: Perth event focused on decarbonising WA.
Key findings:
- Gas demand is falling across WA’s core markets in Asia: Gas demand fell in 2025 and is projected to continue to decline, driven by a combination of global geopolitical factors and domestic concerns.
- Policy shifts in key markets since the war on Iran now prioritise renewables and nuclear over gas: Japan, South Korea and China have legislated energy plans that prioritise renewables and nuclear over gas.
- New WA gas would arrive in a saturated, uncertain Asian market filled with cheaper gas: The US is now the world’s largest liquefied gas producer and plans to double its capacity as it also targets Asian markets.
- Green commodities offer a real solution to sustain WA’s economy: WA can lead Australia’s green commodity exports, which by 2060 could be worth almost a trillion dollars.
- Exporting more WA gas is likely to delay or impede Asia decarbonisation: Despite claims by the gas industry, there is no evidence that WA gas is displacing coal in Asia, and in fact diverts resources from genuine decarbonisation options.
Geoff Bice, WA Campaign Lead at Greenpeace Australia Pacific said: “As our export partners in Asia shift away from expensive and polluting gas, the WA Government has a golden opportunity to pivot our economy to green exports, like green iron, which is the most effective way to help our region to decarbonise.
“The writing is on the wall: gas is in decline, renewables are our future. In this context, it makes zero sense for the government to encourage high risk projects like Woodside’s reckless Browse gas proposal at Scott Reef.
“This report clearly shows that the WA Government faces a choice: sink or swim. They can either allow the gas industry to keep ripping off West Australians and continue propping up its decline, or choose the path that will deliver enormous benefits to the state and the world by becoming a leader in the rapidly expanding green economy.”
Tom Quinn, Managing Director of Springmount Advisory: “Western Australia prospers when it looks to the future and builds for future demand. Twenty years from now, what the world needs is green commodities made using WAs abundant renewable resources. Just like it did with iron ore in the 1950s and gas in the 1970s, WA should look to the future and build what the world will need, not sunsetting industries like gas that are already past their peak.”
-ENDS-
Media contact
Kate O’Callaghan on 0406 231 892 or kate.ocallaghan@greenpeace.org
Lucy Keller on 0491 135 308 or lucy.keller@greenpeace.org
A report from Greenpeace Australia Pacific and Springmount Advisory reveals the untapped green economic opportunity for Western Australia in a declining Asian gas market, which also offers a genuine solution for decarbonisation in Asia.
Is Western Australia clinging to a fading gas industry while a thriving green future passes it by? As major Asian trading partners rapidly pivot away from volatile gas imports toward cheap solar and battery storage, this report exposes a high-stakes choice: risk becoming stranded in an oversupplied fossil fuel market, or harness WA’s unmatched sun and wind to lead the global clean energy transition.
Summary
From Gas to Green: Building Western Australia’s Future State reveals that Western Australia (WA) faces a critical juncture as falling Asian gas demand, geopolitical gas supply volatility and accelerating renewable energy deployment undermine the long-term economic viability of gas exports. By harnessing its world-class wind and solar resources, the report demonstrates that WA can execute an orderly phase-out of gas and pioneer a green commodity export economy that could generate $987 billion in economic value by 2060, create 24,000 ongoing jobs, and drive a 9.6% reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions.
Key Findings
- Gas demand is falling in Asia – WA can no longer rely on gas exports: Gas demand in core Asian markets fell in 2025 and is projected to continue to decline in 2026. Legislated energy plans in Japan, South Korea, and China now prioritise renewables and nuclear over gas.
- Asia is increasing renewables, importing gas just gets in the way: Evidence from markets like Thailand suggests that gas imports are increasingly crowding out cheaper renewable energy investments and battery storage rather than displacing coal, locking in more emissions over time.
- Green commodities offer a real solution to decarbonise Asia – this is a major win for WA: With world-class renewables, WA can lead Australia’s green commodity exports, which by 2060 could be worth almost a trillion dollars ($987 billion) and support a genuine 9.6% reduction in global emissions.
Recommendations to WA government
Recommendation 1: Plan an orderly gas phase-out aligned with a trading partner pivot plan
Implement a managed, orderly phase-out of gas exports aligned with trading partners’ decarbonisation pathways, rather than waiting for demand to collapse, by:
- Developing and implementing a staged phase-out of gas facilities aligned with feedstock supply expiry or typical end of facility lifespans.
- Committing to no new gas development for gas expansion, including Browse and Kimberley fields.
- Developing new, reciprocal trade relationships with existing gas trade partners, structured to progressively replace gas exports with green commodities – integrated with recommendation 2.
Recommendation 2: Develop an integrated green commodity export strategy, positioning WA as a global green iron manufacturing hub
Establish an integrated green commodity export strategy that immediately prioritises green iron development, positioning WA as a global green iron manufacturing hub, by:
- Committing to green commodity export targets to give industry and investors a clear demand signal.
- Prioritising green iron as the lead sector within the broader green commodity strategy, given WA’s iron ore endowment and first-mover potential.
Recommendation 3: Reject false solutions such as carbon dumping (CCS) and blue hydrogen
Reject carbon dumping (also described as carbon capture and storage, or CCS) and blue hydrogen as viable decarbonisation technologies, and prioritise green hydrogen and proven renewables for clean energy and fuel production by:
- Excluding blue hydrogen projects (and CCS-dependent projects) from all government support programs.
- Requiring existing hydrogen-based production (including ammonia, methanol, synthetic fuels) to have clear, near-term transition timelines to switch to green hydrogen production.
What you can do
Together, we can push for a prosperous green future.
You can help by:
- Sending an email to Environment Minister Murray Watt and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, calling on them to reject Browse.
- Sharing this story to help more Austr