98% of environmental and climate claims made by 33 off the world’s largest meat and dairy companies could be categorised as forms of greenwashing, a new study by researchers at the University of Miami has concluded. 

With meat and dairy corporations keen to deflect attention away from the enormous quantity of greenhouse gas emissions their industry generates (estimated to be between 16.5 and 19.6% of total global emissions), the University of Miami team wanted to examine the veracity of the environmental policy statements that are now widespread in company sustainability reports and websites. 

The researchers isolated the environmental claims made in the most recent sustainability reports and websites (2021–2024) of 33 of the world’s largest meat and dairy companies. They identified 1,233 environmental claims, of which 68% (841) were climate-related. Of the 1,233 claims, 38% (467) were considered by the Miami team to be “unverifiable future projections” (such as ‘achieve carbon neutrality by 2030’ or ‘enable the restoration of 600 billion litres of water in water-stressed regions by 2030’). 

Around half of the companies studied have now made net-zero commitments. But the researchers say these rely on plans to offset carbon emissions (a widely discredited approach that has largely failed to result in real reductions in greenhouse gas emissions) rather than to decarbonise. 

Companies provided supporting evidence for 356 (29%) of the 1,233 claims, “but provided scholarly scientific evidence to support only three of these claims”, the team found. When the researchers examined each of the 1,233 environmental claims using a greenwashing framework they found that “98% (1,213) could be categorized as greenwashing, such as ‘produce net climate-neutral dairy by no later than 2050’.”

“Meat and dairy companies, which produce disproportionate amounts of pollution relative to other kinds of foods, have prioritized climate change in their sustainability initiatives. They make many promises and provide very little supporting evidence”

The study’s authors write: “Meat and dairy companies, which produce disproportionate amounts of pollution relative to other kinds of foods, have prioritized climate change in their sustainability initiatives. They make many promises and provide very little supporting evidence. Like the fossil fuel industry, which has used greenwashing over the last several decades to delay meaningful climate action, the meat and dairy industry may be misleading consumers and investors regarding whether and to what extent they are addressing environmental impacts, including climate change, with even less time to spare.”

Photo by Daniel Miksha on Unsplash