Warm welcome for dairy emissions report

Directors of the International Dairy Federation have welcomed a new report from the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations called Greenhouse Gas Emissions From the Dairy Sector. Whereas previous commentaries usually marked milking herds as contributing substantially to emissions of gases linked to global warming, the FAO’s report contends that the environmental impact of the dairy sector accounts for 2.7% of total output, even including all emissions related to processing and transport as well as milk production.
Richard Doyle, president of the International Dairy Federation, also noted that the FAO findings indicated significant variations among the different regions and climate patterns of the world.
“This study is a fundamental part of the process of understanding and continually minimizing the environmental impacts of the dairy sector,” he said. “The global dairy sector and its partners are implementing a global agenda for action in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout the supply chain. Our sector is responsibly focused on providing consumers with the nutritious dairy products they want, in a way that is economically viable, environmentally sound and socially responsible.”