Ms Anja Bless1
1University of Technology Sydney, Australia
Biography:
Anja Bless is a Lecturer in International Studies and Global Societies with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and a PhD candidate with the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney where she is researching the politics of regenerative agriculture. Her focus areas are environmental politics, food politics and policy, sustainable food systems, and sustainable consumption. She completed her Honours (First Class) in Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney and holds a Master of Environment (Distinction) from the University of Melbourne.
Abstract:
The role of cattle in climate change has been attracting increasing attention among governance actors and the general public. Aware of these pressures, farmers, agri-food corporations, and red meat industry groups have been committing to emission reductions in their supply chains to help ensure the longevity of their sector. However, there has been a narrative shift within this discourse coalition in recent years away from acknowledging the contribution of biogenic methane emissions to climate change and instead framing cattle farming as a ‘nature-based solution’ for climate mitigation. Industry campaigns are questioning the validity of climate science and promoting red meat consumption as a positive environmental action. At the same time, there have been deliberate lobbying efforts to remove calls to reduce red meat consumption from climate agreements, such as at the recent COP28. In this paper, I explore this narrative shift through a discursive institutionalist analysis to uncover how the messaging and strategy being adopted by the red meat industry may be influencing outcomes in global climate governance. I analyse the social media campaigns and environmental and social governance strategies of the major livestock multi-national corporations and red meat industry groups in the context of climate negotiations. I compare these activities with those that were adopted by the fossil fuel industry to delay climate action. This research highlights how discursive institutionalism can also apply to non-state actors who are utilising power in, over, and through ideas to shape climate change policy outcomes at a global scale.