Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Copa-Cogeca engages strategically and negatively on key EU climate-related land use policies. The association opposes the transition of diets to reduce consumption of GHG intensive products and is unsupportive of regulation to reduce GHG emissions from livestock. It is a founding member of the European Livestock Voice, an organization to promote the role of the meat and dairy industry in Europe.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Copa-Cogeca appears to engage predominantly negatively on climate policy in its top-line messaging. In a September 2024 position paper, the association stated support for the EU 2050 climate neutrality target but did not appear to support increased GHG emissions reductions in the agricultural sector, emphasizing challenges. In a September 2024 press Release, the President of Cogeca and President of Copa, Lennart Nilson and Christiane Lambert, supported the recommendations of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture which included support for government regulation on climate and land-use related issues. However, in a February 2024 Open Letter to EU Policymakers, Copa Cogeca appeared unsupportive of the EU Green Deal, calling it a “regulatory tsunami” and advocating for a simplification of regulation for farmers. The association has also advocated against EU-level targets for the agricultural sector, for example the President of Copa, Christiane Lambert did not appear to support the need for ambitious climate change regulation for the agriculture sector in January 2024, stating that targets are unachievable. InfluenceMap did not detect a position from Copa-Cogeca on the UN Climate Treaty in 2023-25.
Engagement with Land Use Climate-Related Policies: Copa-Cogeca consistently opposes land use climate-related regulations. The IPCC recommends transitioning consumer diets away from GHG intensive products such as meat and dairy in order to limit global temperatures to 1.5C. The association adopts a strongly negative stance on policy to transition diets and to reduce the production of livestock in the EU, although it does appear to support increased financing for the sector.
For example, in a December 2023 opinion piece, the association’s Presidents Christiane Lambert and Ramon Armengol labelled the Farm to Fork Strategy a failure, and did not support the adopted targets. In an Open Letter to the EU Commission President, Copa-Cogeca emphasized the importance of foods of animal origin for human health. Additionally, in a January 2025 brochure the association emphasized the importance of livestock for human health and European culture, and advocated for policies that recognize the contribution of the livestock sector to sustainable food systems. The association stated preference for voluntary measures and incentives over regulation, as well as market-based policies, in a December 2024 publication, and called for a reassessment of Common Agricultural Policy conditionality requirements.
Copa-Cogeca actively opposed the reform of the Industrial Emissions Directive to expand the scope of the file to include cattle and more pig and poultry farms to tackle methane emissions from the agricultural sector. For example, in a November 2023 press release Copa-Cogeca supported EU policymaker’s decision in final negotiations to exclude cattle farms from policy’s scope, and advocated for the further weakening of the file through the exclusion of poultry and pig farms.
Copa-Cogeca appears to have advocated to weaken the Certification of Carbon Removals Framework. For example, in a November 2023 press release, it opposed including a more ambitious proposal to define the use of carbon removal certificates. In its December 2024 Copa-Cogeca Vision for the Future of EU Agriculture, the association seemed to promote voluntary measures for land-based carbon removals without taking a clear position on mandatory legislation.
Copa-Cogeca supported the EU Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products with major exceptions in multiple 2024 joint statements from September, October and December, in which it supported the delay of the implementation period of the regulation by an additional 12 months, and appeared to advocate for its simplification.
Position on the Energy Transition: Copa-Cogeca has limited engagement on the energy transition. In its April 2024 EU Elections Manifesto, the association broadly supported decarbonizing the economy through investments in the electrification of vehicles, building decarbonization, and electrification of processes. In the same manifesto, the association supported the increased use of bioenergy, however without clearly supporting the overall transition of the energy mix in line with IPCC guidance.