In 2024 alone, $2 trillion was funnelled directly into fossil fuel industries, while and additional $5 trillion represents the devastating societal costs, from toxic air pollution to oil spills and widespread environmental destruction.
At the same time, nearly 90 per cent of the $540 billion in annual agriculture subsidies is driving harm, to both people and the planet.
These funds overwhelmingly support chemical-intensive commodity crop production, entrenching destructive practices. Most of this money flow through price protections and input-linked payments, locking farmers into unsustainable systems that degrade ecosystems, threaten health, and undermine long-term food security.
Suffer
As industries around the world start the slow shift toward decarbonisation, the global food system is quietly doing the opposite, pushing fossil fuel demand even higher.
Major food corporations routinely deploy aggressive tactics to undermine or obstruct public health and environmental policies, replicating the same playbook fossil fuel giants have used for decades to stall climate progress.
According to the report, nearly all synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, an astonishing 99 per cent, are made from fossil fuels. Fertiliser production alone eats up a third of the world’s petrochemicals, making agriculture a major profit driver for oil and gas companies.
Global pesticide use continues to grow, having risen by 13 per cent over the past decade, and doubling since 1990, particularly in countries like China, the United States, Brazil, Thailand, and Argentina. China stands out as the world’s largest pesticide producer, responsible for one-third of global output.
Pesticides have emerged as one of the leading global drivers of biodiversity loss. Their toll on human health is just as alarming: every year, over 385 million people suffer from unintentional pesticide poisonings, resulting in 11,000 deaths and impacting nearly 44 per cent of the world’s farming population.
Investing
Moreover, the extensive use of plastics, over 10 per cent of global plastic production for food and beverage packaging, and an additional 3.5 per cent for agriculture, reveals a stark reality: the food system is a powerful but overlooked driver of Big Oil’s continued growth.
Yet, despite this heavy footprint, food systems are still largely ignored in national climate strategies and global negotiations, a dangerous blind spot that experts warn can no longer be overlooked.
The report is highly critical of so-called “climate-smart” innovations such as “blue” ammonia fertilisers, synthetic biology, and high-tech digital agriculture. These approaches, the authors argue, are energy-intensive, costly, and risk locking in fossil fuel use and agrochemicals under the guise of climate progress.
Molly Anderson, IPES-Food expert, said: “From farm to fork, we need bold action to redesign food and farming, and sever the ties to oil, gas, and coal. As COP30 approaches, the world must finally face up to this fossil fuel blind spot.
“Food systems are the major driver of oil expansion – but also a major opportunity for climate action. That starts by phasing out harmful chemicals in agriculture and investing in agroecological farming and local food supply chains – not doubling down on corporate-led tech fixes that delay real change.”
Cycle
There is hope, and there are already alternatives. Agroecology, Indigenous foodways, regenerative farming, and local supply chains offer viable, fossil-free models for nourishing people and the planet.
Georgina Catacora-Vargas, IPES-Food expert, said: “Fossil fuel-free food systems are not only possible – they already exist, as the world’s Indigenous people teach us.
“By shifting from ultra-processed diets to locally sourced, diverse foods; by helping farmers step off the chemical treadmill and rebuild biological relationships; by redignifying peasant farming and care work – we can feed the world without fossil fuels.”
With COP30 in Brazil on the horizon, IPES-Food is calling on governments to phase out fossil fuel and agrochemical subsidies, cut fossil fuels from food systems, and prioritise agroecological, healthy, and resilient food systems.
The takeaway is clear: continuing to power our food system with fossil fuels is driving us toward climate chaos, economic upheaval, and deepening world hunger. We must break free from this destructive cycle. The future of our planet depends on the choices we make now.
This Author
Monica Piccinini is a regular contributor to The Ecologist and a freelance writer focused on environmental, health and human rights issues.