Missing Ingredients (Center for Biological Diversity et al.)
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Executive Summary
Issues relating to animal agriculture, such as industrial meat production and dietary changes, are deeply underrepresented in media coverage of climate change, despite the sector accounting for nearly one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions.
To better understand how climate journalism covers these issues, the Center for Biological Diversity and Brighter Green analyzed more than 10,000 articles published in 37 different U.S. media ranging from national to local news outlets over a three-year period from July 2022 through June 2025. We also performed an analysis of the text of more than 8,000 unique articles to determine not only how frequently these issues were covered, but also whether the nature of the coverage addressed the sector's role in the climate crisis.
Key findings
- Meat or animal agriculture appear in just 343 out of 10,696 articles (3%) about climate change over the past three years. Even fewer—just 1%—of articles mentioned dietary changes.
- To accurately reflect the proportion of its responsibility for the greenhouse gas emissions fueling the climate crisis, news media representation of animal agriculture in media coverage would have to increase sixfold.
- Climate change coverage declined overall between 2022 and 2025.
The quantitative analysis presented in this report expands on previous similar research on animal agriculture in climate coverage. A 2025 Sentient Media analysis found animal agriculture mentioned in only 3.8% of 940 articles in 11 outlets reviewed,¹ and a 2025 analysis by food systems organization Madre Brava of top English-language outlets in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States found mentions of meat or livestock in decline, falling to lower levels than previous years and averaging just 0.4% of climate articles.²
Although meat and animal agriculture issues are rarely addressed in climate change coverage, when they did appear they were often described in the right contexts: For example, “meat” frequently appeared next to terms like “less,” “consumption" and “emissions.” However, these articles usually addressed only the negative effects of climate change on agriculture or the effects of agriculture on the climate, but not both. This indicates a need for improvement in how journalists understand the connection between animal agriculture and the climate crisis and the need for policy action to address the sector's emissions.
Failure to understand and address the role of animal agriculture and meat consumption in accelerating the climate crisis will make it impossible to achieve emissions-reduction goals and risk our ability to continue growing sufficient nutritious food.
Among those most affected by these threats are farmers and farm workers on the front lines of the climate emergency's dangerous and volatile consequences, including extreme heat, drought and floods. Responsible, nuanced reporting on agriculture in this warming world must recognize the harm to those who produce our food, particularly the most vulnerable among them, as well as the need for a just food transition that lowers greenhouse gas emissions, protects biodiversity, defends workers' rights, enhances food security and food sovereignty, and increases equity while holding the industry accountable for its role in driving warming.
Journalism plays a crucial role in shaping public understanding and political will around climate issues across all sectors. As it stands, the food and agriculture sector continues to receive less media scrutiny than its impact warrants and less coverage than any other major driver of the climate emergency—a marked discrepancy between climate coverage and climate reality.³