How Emissions From Big Meat and Dairy Are Heating up the Planet

Fifteen of the world’s largest meat and dairy companies emit more methane than countries such as Russia, Canada, Australia or Germany. In fact, even individual companies’ methane footprints rival those of entire countries’ livestock methane emissions — for example, the methane footprint of just one U.S. multinational, Tyson Foods, is comparable to the methane emissions of Russia’s entire livestock sector. The extent to which just these 15 companies (responsible for 3.4% of global methane emissions from human activity) are polluting our planet is staggering.

In our new report, Emissions Impossible: Methane Edition, co-published with the Changing Markets Foundation, we estimate for the first time the methane emissions of 15 of the largest global meat and dairy corporations. Methane is a short-lived, but potent greenhouse gas. Slashing methane emissions is crucial to avoiding both temperature overshoot and dangerous climate tipping points. Yet, these livestock companies are not only failing to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions but also their emissions are rising.