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New alliance led by global food companies will tackle dairy methane emissions
The group, convened by the Environmental Defense Fund, includes the Bel Group, Danone, General Mills, Kraft Heinz, Lactalis USA, and Nestle, and collectively represents more than $200bn in revenue.
The Dairy Action Alliance will see these companies reporting annually on their methane emissions within their dairy supply chains. As part of this, they will be creating and implementing a comprehensive methane action plan.
The majority of food companies' methane emissions are from livestock, with dairy responsible for nearly 10% of global methane emission. The hope is that this partnership will set a new standard for accountability, transparency and ambitious climate action within the food sector.
“Transforming how we produce food is essential to stabilising the climate. We also need to support farmers as they work to feed the world in the face of climate change,” said Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund. “Dairy companies can be part of the fight against climate change by reducing methane pollution. This is an exciting step forward in putting methane action front and center for the dairy sector."
Adding to this, Simon Bonnet, sustainability milk purchasing director of the Bel Group said: “The Bel Group is committed to contribute to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement by limiting global warming to below +1.5°C. To do so, we are convinced that we need to collaborate side by side with our key partners, the farmers, in order to reduce by 25% greenhouse gases coming from dairy farms by 2035, especially by methane mitigation.
“We can accelerate and be more efficient by working with the whole dairy ecosystem. This is the purpose of the Dairy Methane Action Alliance.”
The Environmental Defense Fund will be offering the companies technical support and best practices for accounting and disclosure, and access to cutting-edge research and emerging solutions. While sustainability nonprofit Ceres will provide technical guidance support and lead the development of a methane action plan template that aligns with investor and corporate expectations, as well as helping to ensure companies are making progress against key plan milestones.
The Environmental Defense Fund is now calling on other dairy players to join the pledge.
In other news, Food Manufacture has summarised the top trends emerging out of this year's FiE event.
