Europe's biggest meat and dairy firms pollute "with impunity"
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A recently published report finds that major companies in the EU, UK, and Switzerland have no climate plans or targets, amid rising concerns about "greenwashing".
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According to the analysis, these companies were responsible for 7% of EU emissions in 2018.
Greenhouse gas emissions from Europe's biggest meat and dairy firms continue to increase, according to a new report published Monday, which found that many firms are polluting "with impunity".
The non-profit Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) said many major companies had no climate plans or targets, and even those that do have plans and targets still raised IATP's concerns about "greenwashing", calling on governments to tighten their regulations.
The study looked at 35 of the largest meat and dairy companies headquartered in the EU, the UK, and Switzerland, examining their possible climate plans and emissions from their supply chains, livestock in particular, which constitutes a major emitter of greenhouse gases.
According to the analysis, these companies were responsible for 7% of EU emissions in 2018, while the emissions of the top 20 exceed those of the Netherlands.
"The climate footprint of Europe's big meat and dairy companies rival the fossil fuel giants yet they continue to operate with impunity," said IATP European Director Shefali Sharma.
"The handful of companies that have climate plans rely on accounting tricks, greenwash, and dubious offsets to distract from the fundamental changes needed to cut emissions."
Seven out of the 10 companies that the report tracked over time saw their climate footprint grow between 2016 and 2018.
Of the 20 companies analyzed, only four report emissions from their entire supply chain, IATP mentioned, even though livestock production accounts for the lion's share of emissions.
And only three -- Nestle, FrieslandCampina, and ABP -- commit to an overall reduction in livestock emissions.
In September, a report published by the Meat Atlas, an annual compilation of scientific data on meat production and consumption, showed that the 20 biggest meat and dairy firms in the world emit more greenhouse gases than the economies of Germany, Britain, or France.
Europe produces around 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and pledges to cut emissions to net-zero by 2050.
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