Big meat and dairy are ‘undermining’ climate action, report says

The world’s biggest meat and dairy companies are failing to address the environmental impact of their livestock and impeding the climate fight, according to a report from the Changing Markets Foundation.

Fifteen of 22 suppliers studied have some kind of net-zero target, but none meet UN standards, found the analysis released Thursday by the nonprofit that pressures companies to cut emissions. The industry spends more on advertising than climate solutions while also lobbying against regulations, the report said Thursday.

“The big meat and dairy industry is basically borrowing from the fossil fuel and tobacco playbook to derail climate action,” Nusa Urbancic, chief executive officer of the Changing Markets Foundation, said in an interview. “They are undermining the climate action around the world.”

Livestock, which release potent methane, are estimated to account for some 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to straining land and water resources. Yet the agrifood industry has lagged other sectors in emissions reporting, targets and efforts.

The 22 companies analyzed emit more carbon-dioxide equivalent in a year than Japan, Urbancic said.

Several companies are now rolling out methane-suppressing feed additives, and working to convert manure into biogas as part of efforts to cut emissions. Companies including Cargill Inc. and Nestle SA are touting regenerative agriculture practices.

But Danone SA, which last year pledged to cut methane emissions from milk by almost a third, is the only company in the sector with a specific methane commitment. That puts it ahead of the pack when it comes to scientific integrity, the report said.

Overall, the sector’s net-zero targets largely fail on the integrity test, the report said. Company plans generally rely on offsets and “ill-defined” regenerative farming practices while exaggerating the mitigation potential of solutions such as methane-suppressing feed additives, it said.

The 333-page analysis, based on 18 months of work, looked at companies’ voluntary climate commitments, greenwashing claims, investments in advertising versus low-carbon solutions and their political lobbying. It also looked at their social media campaigns, and compared net-zero targets to the standard provided by the UN Expert group.

The analysis found seven examples of companies and trade groups using social media efforts to target young people, often making misleading claims, such as presenting meat and dairy as healthier dietary choices in already high-consuming countries like the UK. Social media campaigns attacking vegan diets and alternative proteins could be traced back to the meat and dairy industry.

At least 16 companies have touted the potential of technical fixes to reduce emissions but, where data was available, it showed annual spending on research and development across all parts of business made up on average just 1% of companies’ latest revenues. In several cases, companies are spending less on these efforts than on marketing and advertising.

“More impactful solutions are the reduction of livestock numbers and then a shift to more plant-based products,” Urbancic said. “And we haven’t found any evidence that they’re actually doing any of these things.”