Source: Greenpeace
Fonterra has been called out for its ‘Simply Milk’ product line which has a brand identity focused around its ‘Carbon Zero’ claim, based entirely on ineffective carbon offsetting.
Greenpeace Aotearoa says that this is an embarrassment for Fonterra, and for New Zealand which prides itself on being a ‘clean green’ producer.
“Fonterra has been named New Zealand’s biggest polluter two years running, and is responsible for 16% of the country’s emissions. Instead of cynical greenwash, we need to see Fonterra taking meaningful action to cut methane emissions,” says Greenpeace Aotearoa climate campaigner, Christine Rose.
“We have largely won the fight against outright climate denial, but the new, and more insidious threat is greenwash where companies and governments disguise inaction as action.
“We can see it here with Fonterra and we’ve seen it with this Government trying to pass off ineffectual proposals like He Waka Eke Noa as climate action. Greenwash is dangerous and has to be called out.”
Fonterra was highlighted in the report as one of fourteen meat and dairy companies from around the globe actively greenwashing their products with false claims of climate friendly production. Their Simply Milk product line was presented as “New Zealand’s first Carbon Zero milk” – despite achieving a total emissions reduction of only 2.4% per bottle, meaning the majority of their emissions were not in fact reduced, and instead were offset elsewhere.
“Offsetting emissions is unreliable and difficult to measure, and advertising milk as “carbon zero” intentionally misleads people, who trust that it means real reductions in emissions. It’s classic greenwash.”
“Methane pollution from intensive dairy is superheating the climate, far worse than carbon dioxide, and we need real action to reduce these, not more false advertising,” says Rose.
Last week, Greenpeace activists took action at Fonterra’s head office, to “return to sender” the flood-damaged remains of household items destroyed by recent climate-charged storms. Greenpeace said at the time that, as one of the world’s biggest dairy methane emitters, Fonterra was culpable for the devastation caused by the recent storms.
“As we’ve just seen in the IPCC report, emissions are continuing to rise, particularly in New Zealand, and industrial dairy is a key player in that,” says Rose. “Climate change is putting all that we know and love at risk. The government must act now to regulate the dairy industry by bringing it into the Emissions Trading Scheme, and move to reduce cow numbers and cut synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, to protect our planet and ensure a safe and stable climate for years to come.”
The Feeding Us Greenwash investigation by Changing Markets revealed an array of green claims in the food sector that are being placed even on the most carbon-intensive food products, such as dairy and beef, and greenwashing by huge meat and dairy corporations that are responsible for outsized greenhouse gas emissions.
The report recommends that in addition to cracking down on greenwash, governments must ensure meat and dairy companies reduce their climate footprint by setting binding climate targets and reporting – including methane.
