The Top-5 Agri-Food Companies Emit More Than Shell

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) recently published a report on the environmental impact of the agri-food industry, specifically the dairy and meat sectors. Due to the fact that the companies did not provide complete and transparent data about their emissions, the researchers made estimates based on a calculation methodology formulated by the GAO. The findings of the report are compelling: the top-10 emitters in the dairy and meat industries produce more greenhouse gases than many major OECD countries including Germany, Canada or France.

The following infographic compares the annual combined emissions of the five largest emitters in meat and dairy with the emissions of three global oil giants - Exxon Mobil, Shell and BP. In total, those five food companies emit 573 million tons, more greenhouse gas than any of the three oil giants. The IATP report emphasises that companies in the food sector have work on their hands in order to reduce their emissions and contribute to the fight against global warming.