Just three companies – Danone, Bel Group and Nestlé – have managed to cut methane emissions among 23 of the biggest dairy and coffee players in Europe and North America, new research has revealed.
And while the trio of “frontrunners” are making progress with their methane action plans, the rest of the sector was “still lagging”, according to a new report by NGO Changing Markets Foundation.
The group’s new Dairy and Coffee Methane Action Tracker revealed slow progress on cutting the pollutant out of supply chains was “not due to a lack of awareness”. It noted that 91% of companies assessed had “recognised the link between livestock and climate change”.
However, “major blind spots remained”, it added, with 15 companies including Arla, Lactalis, and McDonald’s McCafé brand failing to disclose methane emissions for 2024 or 2025.
Following its launch of a methane action plan in 2023, Danone was the only company aligned with the Global Methane Pledge target of reducing methane emissions by at least 30% below 2020 levels by 2030, while General Mills and FrieslandCampina had a wider dairy emissions reduction target by 2030.
Danone topped the tracker’s rankings with 75.5 points, followed closely by General Mills with 74.5 points, while Starbucks ranked third with 65 points.
The NGO’s research also found that Danone had already achieved a 29.8% reduction in methane emissions from its fresh milk in dairy products, with 17.6% reductions linked to procurement decisions and 11.2% linked to farm performance management measures, such as herd and manure management.
Meanwhile, Nestlé reported a 20.1% reduction, but without explaining how this had been achieved, while Bel Group reported a 23% reduction from its 2017 baseline.
The report’s findings follow research published by Changing Markets in April that revealed the planet’s supermarkets, including major UK retailers, had “failed to make meaningful progress on methane emissions”, while some, such as Asda, were even “backpedalling” on commitments.
They also come after Nestlé withdrew from the Dairy Methane Action Alliance last October, while little progress in tackling methane emissions from industrial agriculture and food production was made at last November’s COP30 summit in Brazil.
“Our rankings show that setting a science-based methane target is one of the most important levers to drive emissions reductions,” said Changing Markets CEO Nusa Urbancic.
“Danone’s progress shows that targets focus minds when backed by regular reporting and accountability. Methane is a crucially important climate emergency brake, and we need other food companies to ramp up ambition.”
Upcoming EU regulations, including the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) were expected “to increase pressure on companies to improve climate disclosure, including on methane”, Changing Markets said.
Companies would need to “account for methane emissions more explicitly under strengthened reporting and double materiality requirements”, it added. “Companies that already have systems in place to account and report methane emissions will be better prepared for increasing regulatory and investor scrutiny.”
Methane is one of the most powerful greenhouse gases – with around 80 times more potent than CO2 over a 20-year period, the group pointed out, and was responsible for roughly a third of global warming to date.
Rapid methane reductions are widely seen as one of the fastest ways to slow near-term warming, “making it a key focus for high-emitting sectors across the food system, including dairy, coffee and retail”.
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