13 dairy firms causing more greenhouse emissions than world's sixth-largest economy

A new report claims that world’s biggest dairy firms release the same amount of greenhouse gases into the environment as the world’s sixth biggest economy, the United Kingdom.

The report by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) in the US claimed that thirteen dairy firms maybe responsible for a huge chunk of the emissions.

Over the last two years, the emissions have grown by over 11 per cent, in the aftermath of the 2015 Paris climate change agreement.

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Reducing consumption and dairy in rich nations is important to control the climate emergency, reports have shown.

Additionally, the report claimed that milk prices have fallen below production costs for the first time int he last decade. This has majorly affected local producers.

Dairy farmer David Witter checks on his herd of 370 Friesian Holstein cows before preparing them for milking at Carters Green Farm in Weston, near Crewe, north west England on April 20, 2020 | AFP

According to the researchers, a cap on production needs to be reintroduced in order to protect climate.

Dairy industry’s big shots responded to the report. In a statement, Judith Bryans, the president of the International Dairy Federation, alongside Donald Moore, the Executive Director of the Global Dairy Platform claimed that “the dairy sector is committed to producing nutritious foods in environmentally sound and responsible ways.”

“It’s very easy to put out a report that criticises and tries to paint a simple picture of a sector which doesn’t contain all of the nuances or realities of how the global dairy sector nourishes the world with nutrient-rich, safe foods and does so in a manner that strives for continued environmental improvements while providing livelihoods to a large percentage of the world’s population,” the joint-statement said.

Bryans and Moore further said: “[Dairy’s] rich nutrition helps populations, particularly in developing nations, avoid malnutrition and poor health outcomes.”

In 2019, a report UNFAO and Global Dairy Platform had called for reducing greenhouse emissions from the industry.

Researchers believe soya and oat, which are also sources of milk are less harmful to the environment.