World's 13 biggest dairy companies produce nearly same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as entire UK, says report

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The 13 largest dairy companies cause almost the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions each year as the whole of the UK, a new report has revealed. Shefali Sharma, European director at the IATP and the author of the study, said: “Unlike growing public scrutiny on fossil fuel companies, little public pressure exists to hold global meat and dairy corporations accountable for their emissions, even as scientific evidence mounts that our food system is responsible for up to 37% of all global emissions.” “As governments ratchet up their climate goals, the rise of large-scale dairy and public incentives that further increase corporate dairy power, production and emissions must be stopped,” she added. According to the research, none of the 13 dairy companies have committed to “a clear and absolute reduction of emissions” from their supply chains or from the cows themselves, which are responsible for 90 per cent of the firms’ pollution. Judith Bryans, president of the International Dairy Federation, and Donald Moore, executive director of the Global Dairy Platform, said in a joint statement: “The dairy sector is committed to producing nutritious foods in environmentally sound and responsible ways.”