Danone has announced a global action plan to reduce absolute methane emissions from its fresh milk supply chain by 30% by 2030.
The French food and drink giant said it expected to remove 1.2 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) of methane emissions by 2030.
The commitment follows progress by Danone from 2018 to 2020, during which time it reduced its methane emissions by 14%.
The company claimed it was the first food company to set a methane reduction target and align with the ambition of the Global Methane Pledge launched by COP26.
Danone will also report on its methane emissions as part of its extra financial disclosure.
“Dairy products are an affordable source of nutrition for many people, at the core of our mission to bring health through food,” said Antoine de Saint-Affrique, CEO of Danone. “As one of the largest dairy companies, we take the challenge of both producing more [to feed a growing population] and greatly reducing emissions and impact on climate.”
Saint-Affrique added it would take “collective effort” to reduce methane emissions.
As part of this effort, Danone is working with its 58,000 dairy farmers across 20 countries to implement regenerative dairy practices and develop innovative solutions.
These practices have the added benefit of improving biodiversity, soil quality, and chemical reduction.
Danone has also announced plans to launch four new initiatives for methane reduction in farming in Africa, Europe and the US. It announced a new partnership with Environmental Defense Fund, a global non-profit environmental organisation working in nearly 30 countries.
The partnership will enable Danone to improve science, data and reporting for agricultural methane emissions.
Additionally, the partners will advocate for action from the dairy action and governments and advance innovative financing models.
“Danone is the first food company raising this type of ambition, but it can’t be the last,” said Fred Krupp, president of EDF. “This is the decisive decade for climate action.”
As part of its plans to reduce methane, Danone has outlined plans to work with governments to unlock systemic solutions to support dairy farm transformation.
The company is already working with the US Department of Agriculture and the European Commission’s Climate Neutral Farms, and has worked with the Algerian government.
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