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Fonterra undermines its own claim of low-carbon milk
In its latest sustainability report, New Zealand's Fonterra undermines the claim that New Zealand milk has the lowest carbon footprint in the world. Australian milk does better.
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According to Fonterra, every kilo of milk it produces in New Zealand emits 1,04 kilos of CO2 equivalents. A kilo of milk from Fonterra Australia, with an emission of 880 grams of CO2 equivalents, is considerably less harmful to the climate, so Fonterra reports.
The New Zealand figure is still much higher than the old emissions figure that it 2022 Journal of Dairy Sciences states. That assumes 740 grams of CO2. However, the conclusion that CO2 emissions have risen very quickly since then is too simplistic. The 2022 figure did not include emissions due to land use change and emissions from peat soil. This has been included in the new figure for this year.
It is a bit of a shame for New Zealand's 'ranking' as the cleanest dairy producer in the world, but for very large buyers such as Nestlé, it was no longer a secret and apparently has no effect.
In Australia, Fonterra produces only a few hundred million kilos of milk, a production that it also wants to get rid of. The vast majority of Fonterra's milk still comes from its country of origin, New Zealand.
In recent years, CO2 emissions per kilo of milk have become the most important sustainability indicator for the dairy industry. Other indicators pale in comparison.