Europe must curb agribusiness’ lobbying power to tackle climate, biodiversity, food and farming crises
As the world faces its fourth wave of global food price crises in just 20 years, the new ‘Agribusiness Atlas’ released today by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Friends of the Earth Europe, IPES-Food and the Association of Ethical Shareholders shows how growing market concentration, corporate capture and financial speculation in the food industry are enriching a small minority while damaging the livelihoods and health of millions around the world and destroying the climate.
The Atlas warns that the more powerful the corporations, the more influence they can exert over policymaking, and the more extensively they can block regulations designed to protect people and the planet, including EU measures to reduce pesticide use. At the same time, corporate concentration gives dominant players greater power to dictate prices. This is particularly evident in food manufacturing and retail, where agribusiness squeezes producer prices while charging consumers more, putting pressure on both farmers’ incomes and household budgets.
Among other findings, the Agribusiness Atlas 2026 exposes that:
- Wars and financial speculation are driving up food prices, enriching a small minority while pushing millions around the world into hunger and poverty. In the week immediately after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, speculative agricultural funds pulled in as much investment as they normally attract in an entire month.
- Fertilizer prices tripled following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while the world’s nine largest fertilizer corporations more than tripled their profits compared to pre-pandemic levels.
- Corporate power drives the production of ultra-processed foods because they yield the highest profits, with devastating consequences for health. In the EU, around a third of deaths from cardiovascular disease are linked to an unhealthy diet.
- In 2025, Big agri corporations generated 30 billion euros from pesticide sales in the EU. To protect their profits, they invest heavily in lobbying. According to their own declarations in the EU Transparency Register, widely considered underestimates, just nine of the most active agrifood industry actors reported spending collectively over 50 million euros between 2020 and 2023 while the EU pesticide reduction law was under debate.
- Corporations make profits from food at the expense of workers: In the United States, 5 of the 10 lowest-paid occupations are found in the food industry. In France, producers receive just 6.90 euros out of every 100 euros in food sales. Thirty years ago, the figure was almost twice as high.
- Together, the top 5 meat and dairy producers emit as much as one fossil fuel giant like BP or Shell. And with one billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year, the 45 largest meat and dairy corporations would rank ninth globally if they were a country.
Clara Bourgin, Food, Agriculture and Nature Campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe said:
“We’re staring down a food crisis and doubling down on corporate concentration won’t fix it, it will fuel it. Clinging to a model built on oligopolies, corporate capture and financial speculation means more hunger, more environmental destruction and more profits for the few, while everyone else pays the price.”
Louise Mollenhauer, Head of Programme Climate, Agriculture & Trade of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung EU | Global Dialogue said:
“The solutions to build a healthier, fairer and more sustainable food system are already on the table. What is missing is the political will to challenge the interests that benefit from the status quo. The Agribusiness Atlas shows why tackling corporate concentration and lobbying power must be part of Europe’s response to the climate, biodiversity and food crises. Public money and public policy should serve farmers, consumers and the planet – not reinforce the power of the biggest players.”
Raj Patel, IPES-Food panel expert and research professor at the University of Texas said:
“Farmers are being squeezed and families are feeling the pinch at the checkout. Where’s the money going? To the giant firms that dominate the food system and rig the rules in their favour. Healthy diets are becoming a luxury for billions. We won’t make good food affordable without tackling the corporate power that determines who eats, who pays, and who profits.”
Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Friends of the Earth Europe, IPES-Food and the Association of Ethical Shareholders demand more political courage to deploy the solutions that already exist to guarantee access to healthy, affordable food.
They ask for
- Stronger anti-trust and competition rules to curb oligopolies and restore fair competition
- Public procurement as a tool to support family farming and agroecology, including through the creation of price-stabilizing buffer stocks, large-scale school meal programs, and publicly owned grocery stores.
- Market regulations grounded in agroecological and food sovereignty principles to ensure farmers receive fair prices and stable incomes.
- Strengthened local and regional markets to reduce dependence on global supply chains and ensure communities retain control over their own food sources.
- Firewalls separating agribusiness lobbyists from policymaking, similar to the UN restrictions on the tobacco industry.
