Food suppliers undermining top brands' climate commitments

4th September 2019


Web nestle shutterstock 688032511

Related Topics

Related tags

  • Business & Industry ,
  • Food and drink ,
  • Supply chain ,
  • Global

Author

Amy Hammond

The world's largest meat, fish and dairy producers are failing to match the sustainability commitments of the high-street brands they supply, new research has uncovered.

The study found that 77% don't measure their greenhouse gas emissions or have meaningful targets to reduce them, including suppliers to McDonalds, Walmart and Nestlé.

This is despite Nestlé, Walmart and McDonalds all publicly committing to slash emissions, with their suppliers also among the worst offenders for deforestation and antibiotic use.

The research – carried out by the $16bn-backed FAIRR investor network – involved analysis of 60 publicly listed animal protein producers with a combined market capitalisation of $324bn.

“It is the companies hidden upstream in the meat and dairy supply chain who face the most significant climate and public health risks, FAIRR founder, Jeremy Coller, said.

“These companies urgently need to address issues such as climate risk to prevent the commitments of their customers, the high-street brands, from becoming nothing but fake promises.“

Venky's, Hormel Foods, LDC and Cal-Maine Foods are among the suppliers that score worst for measuring and cutting CO2 emissions.

It was also found that none of the 50 meat and dairy firms studied – excluding fish farmers – have a comprehensive policy to address or mitigate deforestation in the regions they source from.

This is despite Walmart aspiring to net zero deforestation in its supply chain by 2020, while the vast majority of beef suppliers do not have a policy to avoid routine use of antibiotics either.

Moreover, 75% of meat and dairy companies, and 60% of fish farming farms, are ranked in the 'high risk' category for animal welfare.

“The message from an increasing number of investors is that the food industry must find better answers to the business risks it is facing from more extreme weather patterns and increasing water scarcity, BMO Global Asset Management director for responsible investment, Juan Salazar, said.

As a first step meat, fish and dairy suppliers must start to echo and act on the commitments some of their big customers are making, for example, reducing emissions in line with the volumes demanded by climate science.“

Image credit: ©Shutterstock

Subscribe

Subscribe to IEMA's newsletters to receive timely articles, expert opinions, event announcements, and much more, directly in your inbox.


Transform articles

Facing the climate emergency challenge in local government

It’s well recognised that the public sector has the opportunity to work towards a national net-zero landscape that goes well beyond improving on its own performance; it can also influence through procurement and can direct through policy.

19th March 2024

Read more

The UK government’s carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) strategy is based on optimistic techno-economic assumptions that are now outdated, Carbon Tracker has warned.

13th March 2024

Read more

The UK government’s climate adaptation plans are ‘inadequate’ and falling ‘far short’ of what is required, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has warned today.

13th March 2024

Read more

The UK’s net-zero economy grew 9% last year while delivering higher paid jobs than average and attracting billions of pounds in private investment, analysis by CBI Economics has uncovered.

28th February 2024

Read more

A consortium including IEMA and the Good Homes Alliance have drafted a letter to UK government ministers expressing disappointment with the proposed Future Homes Standard.

26th February 2024

Read more

Campaign group Wild Justice has accused the UK government of trying to relax pollution rules for housebuilders “through the backdoor”.

14th February 2024

Read more

Three-quarters of UK adults are concerned about the impact that climate change will have on their bills, according to polling commissioned by Positive Money.

13th February 2024

Read more

All major housing developments in England will be required by law to deliver at least a 10% increase in biodiversity under new rules that came into force today.

12th February 2024

Read more

Media enquires

Looking for an expert to speak at an event or comment on an item in the news?

Find an expert

IEMA Cookie Notice

Clicking the ‘Accept all’ button means you are accepting analytics and third-party cookies. Our website uses necessary cookies which are required in order to make our website work. In addition to these, we use analytics and third-party cookies to optimise site functionality and give you the best possible experience. To control which cookies are set, click ‘Settings’. To learn more about cookies, how we use them on our website and how to change your cookie settings please view our cookie policy.

Manage cookie settings

Our use of cookies

You can learn more detailed information in our cookie policy.

Some cookies are essential, but non-essential cookies help us to improve the experience on our site by providing insights into how the site is being used. To maintain privacy management, this relies on cookie identifiers. Resetting or deleting your browser cookies will reset these preferences.

Essential cookies

These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website.

Analytics cookies

These cookies allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors to our website and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works.

Advertising cookies

These cookies allow us to tailor advertising to you based on your interests. If you do not accept these cookies, you will still see adverts, but these will be more generic.

Save and close