‘Dairytales: Arla’s smokescreen for its lack of climate action’ was co-authored by Changing Markets Foundation and Greenpeace Nordic and has been sent to Arla to review.
The report alleges that the Danish-Swedish firm, which is the fifth largest dairy company in the world, has failed to take sufficient steps to mitigate its emissions and will not meet its target of net zero by 2050 as a result.
It also accused Arla of involving itself in ongoing efforts to “delay and derail wider transformation of the dairy industry and food systems”.
Commenting following the release of the report, senior campaigner at the Changing Markets Foundation, Alma Castrejon-Davila, said that Arla has chosen to “greenwash its own activities” rather than taking the opportunity to be a trailblazer in the sustainable transition of the dairy industry.
“Arla has been selling us a fairytale for far too long and this report exposes the stark contradiction between Arla’s reputation as the poster child of dairy sustainability, and the reality of its failure to develop robust plans to reduce its emissions – in particular its methane emissions,” added Castrejon-Davila.
Meanwhile, Sandra Lamborn, a campaigner at Greenpeace Nordic, argued that Arla cares more about “looking good than actually doing good for the climate”.
“If Arla had put as much resources into the actual climate work as it does into PR and lobbying, it would probably have had a good chance of achieving its own climate goals, but sadly they are not,” Lamborn said.
While the comments are fairly damming, the two organisations said that they hope to begin a constructive dialogue moving forwards.
In response, an Arla spokesperson commented: “We are taking the time to thoroughly review the report, however, we believe from some of the data we have seen, that there are multiple inaccuracies and it is not a true reflection of Arla’s science-based targets and commitment to producing more sustainable dairy.”
Key findings
In assessing Arla’s net zero plans, the report compared them against the UN High-Level Expert Group’s guideline Integrity Matters, which provides 10 key recommendations for companies, financial institutions and other non-state entities. Of the nine relevant recommendations, Arla meets one, partially meets five and does not meet three.
The report also found that Arla has failed to declare any reduction targets for material non-CO2 emissions, including methane, and does not publish detailed reporting on methane.
“We’re calling on Arla to set an ambitious methane target – at a minimum a 30% reduction by 2030 – and shift to less and better dairy, as well as more plant-based products,” said Castrejon-Davila.
“Only by implementing these measures will the dairy giant be able to reduce its emissions at the pace and scale that are needed.”
Meanwhile, the report focused on the resources that Arla has used to lobby governments to derail climate legislation and effective measures to transform food systems. It accused Arla of making at least 24 direct interventions with the EU Commission since 2017, aimed at influencing significant topics like dairy sustainability, biomethane, and nutrition labelling.
