Dairy giant Danone pledges to reduce planet-warming methane

French meals big Danone mentioned on Tuesday it could minimize global-warming methane emissions by 30 p.c by 2030, and pledged to remodel the best way the cows it makes use of are raised and milked.

Methane is chargeable for almost 30 p.c of the worldwide temperature rise thus far. It’s launched from the oil, fuel, waste and agricultural sectors in addition to by pure processes.

Cattle ranching is a serious driver as a result of cows expel methane by burping. Their dung additionally releases dangerous gases. Agriculture and livestock generate about 40 p.c of the methane related to human actions, with the rest coming primarily from the fuel sector.

Danone mentioned on Tuesday it should search to cut back methane emissions through the use of cow breeds that emit much less methane, enhancing the diets of cows, extending milking durations and capturing emissions from manure to be used in biogas, for instance.

“We’ll see how we will enhance practices generally on farms,” ​​spokeswoman Janet Coombes-Lnotte instructed AFP.

It mentioned it could minimize emissions by 30 p.c by the top of the last decade in comparison with 2020 ranges.

Goal consists of all recent dairy merchandise, corresponding to yogurt, made with milk that Danone buys straight from 58,000 dairy farms in 20 nations. The corporate’s milk manufacturing accounts for 70 p.c of the corporate’s methane emissions.

It doesn’t include the powder formulation that you simply purchase from third occasion brokers.

Danone says it has already decreased methane emissions by “14 p.c” between 2018 and 2020, and that methane emissions account for a few quarter of its carbon footprint.

In Morocco, the place the group collects milk from small farmers, “there’s plenty of progress that may be made by enhancing manufacturing,” says Combs-Lanotte.

Rising milk manufacturing per cow, for instance, may permit farmers to cut back the dimensions of their herd whereas sustaining manufacturing, thus lowering methane emissions.

The corporate can also be taking a look at progressive options to assist cut back emissions, for instance via a face masks that may entice belching fuel, or by altering diets to incorporate algae components.

The United Nations Surroundings Program mentioned in its 2021 report that technological options have restricted potential to considerably cut back emissions from the agricultural sector.

She mentioned behavioral adjustments – specifically higher livestock administration and decreased meat and dairy manufacturing and consumption – have been needed to cut back methane emissions.

Greater than 100 nations agreed in 2021 underneath the World Methane Pledge to chop emissions by 30 p.c by 2030, led by the USA and the European Union.

However many main methane emitters – together with China, Russia, Iran and India – haven’t signed as much as it.

© 2023 AFP