Less than two years ago, a group of the world’s largest food companies, including Nestlé, Danone, and Kraft Heinz, announced a major partnership to reduce methane emissions from hundreds of thousands of dairy suppliers.
But last month, the Nestlé logo disappeared from the initiative’s website. Officials from the Swiss food giant confirmed they had withdrawn from the initiative, known as the Dairy Methane Action Alliance.
The company did not provide details about its decision to withdraw. “Nestlé regularly reviews its membership in external organizations,” a company spokesperson said in a written statement. “As part of this process, we have decided to discontinue our membership in the Dairy Methane Action Alliance.”
Nevertheless, Nestlé officials praised the Alliance’s efforts and said the company remains committed to reducing dairy emissions as part of its overall efforts to halve climate pollution by 2030.
It is unclear whether Nestlé’s withdrawal will sway the resolve of other members of the alliance. Several participants, including Danone, Starbucks, General Mills, Bell Group and Lactalis USA, told Bloomberg this week that they would continue the effort.
The resignations of major food companies have alarmed one environmental watchdog group, which has long urged food companies to aggressively tackle methane emissions from their dairy and beef supplies.
Nusa Urbancic, chief executive of the nonprofit Changing Markets Foundation, said: “Nestlé’s silent withdrawal from the partnership is a worrying move at a time when scientists are telling us that reducing methane is the best way to limit global warming.”
Methane traps about 80 times more heat than the same amount of carbon dioxide. However, this powerful gas remains in the atmosphere for only about 12 years, compared to centuries for CO2. That means even modest adjustments in methane could quickly lower atmospheric levels and help slow global warming.
But it’s incredibly hard work. Atmospheric methane concentrations have hovered around 700 parts per billion for centuries. Its presence has nearly tripled to 1,935 ppb since the start of the industrial revolution due to oil and gas extraction, landfills, and increased demand for beef and dairy products. One industry official estimates that dairy products alone generate about 8% of methane from human activities.
When the Dairy Methane Action Alliance was launched at the United Nations Climate Conference in Dubai in December 2023, its members charted a path forward to tackle this challenge. The companies have committed to measuring and reporting methane emissions from dairy products and announcing an action plan to address these pollutants by the end of 2024. But the effort started slowly, and the reporting deadline was pushed back by a year.
Nestlé, on the other hand, circumvented the alliance’s guidelines by not disclosing its dairy supply and reporting its overall methane emissions (which it announced fell 21% between 2018 and 2024).
After Nestlé’s departure, the alliance now has 10 members, including new entrants such as Starbucks and Agropool, a major Canadian dairy cooperative. So far, seven companies in the Alliance have published their dairy methane emissions and four have published action plans.
Mr. Elgin, Mr. Raimondo and Mr. Penn write for Bloomberg.
