Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
98% of all recent environmental ... world's largest meat and dairy companies can be categorized as "greenwashing" ...
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/112452598% of all recent environmental claims and commitments from the world’s largest meat and dairy companies can be categorized as “greenwashing”, or intentionally misleading
Peer-Reviewed Publication
PLOS
The vast majority of environmental claims from the animal agricultural industry are misleading “greenwashing” that relies on vague promises or projections, according to a study published April 22, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS Climate by Maya Bach and Jennifer Jacquet from the University of Miami, United States, and colleagues.
The meat and dairy industry accounts for 57% of total global food production emissions and at least 16.5% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, Bach and colleagues investigated recent environmental claims made by 33 of the world’s largest meat and dairy companies to assess whether these claims outlined clear and achievable ways to reduce their environmental impact, or if these claims were “greenwashing” (deceptive or intentionally misleading).
The authors analyzed 1,233 environmental claims drawn from the publicly available sustainability reports and websites of 33 of the world’s largest meat and dairy companies (data spanning from 2021-2024).
841 claims (68%) were classified as climate-related because they directly or indirectly addressed GHG emissions or the impact of climate change—highlighting how climate change has become a primary way to frame sustainability commitments. 467 claims (38%) were unverifiable future projections such as “achieve carbon neutrality by 2030” or “enable the restoration of 600 billion liters of water in water-stressed regions by 2030.” The authors found company-provided supporting evidence for 356 (29%) of the 1,233 studied claims; scholarly scientific evidence was provided to support only three of these claims, two of which were climate-related. 17 of the 33 companies have now also made net-zero commitments (up from just 4 companies with net-zero pledges in 2020). These commitments appear to rely on offsetting carbon emissions rather than decarbonizing directly. Finally, the authors examined the studied environmental claims using a greenwashing framework and found that 98% (1,213) could be categorized as greenwashing, such as “produce net climate-neutral dairy by no later than 2050.”
…
Bach M, Loy L, Mach KJ, Shukla McDermid S, Jacquet J (2026) Environmental claims, climate promises, and ‘greenwashing’ by meat and dairy companies. PLOS Clim 5(4): e0000773. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000773Peer-Reviewed Publication
PLOS
The vast majority of environmental claims from the animal agricultural industry are misleading “greenwashing” that relies on vague promises or projections, according to a study published April 22, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS Climate by Maya Bach and Jennifer Jacquet from the University of Miami, United States, and colleagues.
The meat and dairy industry accounts for 57% of total global food production emissions and at least 16.5% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, Bach and colleagues investigated recent environmental claims made by 33 of the world’s largest meat and dairy companies to assess whether these claims outlined clear and achievable ways to reduce their environmental impact, or if these claims were “greenwashing” (deceptive or intentionally misleading).
The authors analyzed 1,233 environmental claims drawn from the publicly available sustainability reports and websites of 33 of the world’s largest meat and dairy companies (data spanning from 2021-2024).
841 claims (68%) were classified as climate-related because they directly or indirectly addressed GHG emissions or the impact of climate change—highlighting how climate change has become a primary way to frame sustainability commitments. 467 claims (38%) were unverifiable future projections such as “achieve carbon neutrality by 2030” or “enable the restoration of 600 billion liters of water in water-stressed regions by 2030.” The authors found company-provided supporting evidence for 356 (29%) of the 1,233 studied claims; scholarly scientific evidence was provided to support only three of these claims, two of which were climate-related. 17 of the 33 companies have now also made net-zero commitments (up from just 4 companies with net-zero pledges in 2020). These commitments appear to rely on offsetting carbon emissions rather than decarbonizing directly. Finally, the authors examined the studied environmental claims using a greenwashing framework and found that 98% (1,213) could be categorized as greenwashing, such as “produce net climate-neutral dairy by no later than 2050.”
…