Arla Foods promises to be net zero by 2050

EUROPE’S LARGEST dairy co-operative, Arla Foods, has promised its operations will be carbon net zero by 2050.

The company, home to brands including Anchor and Cravendale, made the announcement after the NFU called for UK farming to meet a net zero greenhouse gas emissions target by 2040.

To be totally carbon neutral means a company removes or reduces the same amount of greenhouse gas it is estimated to produce.

The business, which has several sites across the UK, including Leeds, said it had already reduced CO2 emissions by 22 per cent across production and packaging; on farms CO2 emissions per kilo of milk have reduced by 24 per cent since 1990. Meanwhile, Arla has produced almost 50 per cent more milk since 2005, it added.

In addition to the net zero target, the co-operative, owned by 10,300 farmers across the UK, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, and Belgium, said it plans to balance nitrogen and phosphorus cycles to support clean water systems and align itself closer to nature to further increase biodiversity across Britain’s countryside.

Arla said the move would require radical changes across its business in the decades to come.

UK managing director Ash Amirahmadi said: “One of the greatest challenges facing us all is providing natural, nutritious food for a growing population whilst reducing our collective impact on the world around us.

“Arla has already shown this is possible and the new ambitions... will ensure Arla’s farmers, production sites and products continue to play their part in developing a sustainable world for everyone.”

The target is in line with a letter from 160 cross party MPs last year calling for commitments from businesses on carbon emissions by 2050.

It is part of the considerations by the Committee on Climate Change, which is expected to report back next month.

Arla’s UK farmers are taking steps to drive sustainable change.

Jonathan Sharp, from Tewitt Hall Farm in Keighley, has invested into green energy production, waste disposal improvements and the care of his herd of around 130 Holstein cows. He said: “My mantra is simple, make the most of what we’ve got.”

One of the greatest challenges facing us all. Arla UK managing director Ash Amirahmadi.

CARBON PROMISE: Arla foods has pledged to make its operations, from cow to customer, net zero by 2050. One of its UK farmers, Jonathan Sharp, is already driving sustainable change.