The Methane Wars
How Big Ag is influencing climate policy in South America
A story involving millions of dollars and confidential contracts—from changing how livestock emissions are measured in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, to promoting questionable regenerative solutions.
The goal: to avoid climate responsibility.
The Methane Wars
Discover how, through funding figures like Frank Mitloehner, agribusiness seeks to change how methane emissions are calculated in Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil.
The goal: to avoid responsibility for livestock’s role in the climate crisis.
Regenerative agriculture and livestock projects are being proposed by agribusiness leaders as a climate solution in South America.
Behind the promises lie serious questions about deforestation, methane emissions, and greenwashing.
The Paraguayan government, corporations and trade associations are seeking to position pesticide-treated soybean plantations under the banner of regenerative agriculture in South America.
But in two villages in eastern Paraguay, residents are suffering the consequences of poisoning and crop loss.
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Money, methane, and power: how Big Ag is shaping South America's policies
In March 2023, a journalist woke up to the announcement of a supposed NASA study debunking livestock’s climate impact in South America.
What he didn’t expect was the plan behind it all—one that aimed to influence climate policy in four countries, threatening the Paris Agreement.
A Micrófono Climático special in Spanish and English.
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Credits
- Investigation and reporting: Maximiliano Manzoni – 2025 Bertha Challenge Fellow
- Editing: Paula Díaz Levi & Francisco Parra
- Design and illustrations: Enrique Bernardou & Willyam Matsumoto
- Photography & podcast direction: Nicolás Granada
- Podcast editing: Nicolás Granada, Esteban Tavera & Maximiliano Manzoni
- Web design: Gladimar Rincón
- Special products: Tania Karo Mesa Montórfano and Sara Seux (Consenso), Génesis Méndez (Climate Tracker Latam), Isabela Marini and Giuliana Meilicke (Tobogan Media)
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