{"id":70709,"date":"2025-06-05T12:26:23","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T00:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/?p=70709"},"modified":"2025-06-05T12:26:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T00:26:26","slug":"dairy-industry-greenwash-under-fire-as-lawsuits-go-global","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/dairy-industry-greenwash-under-fire-as-lawsuits-go-global\/","title":{"rendered":"Dairy industry greenwashing under fire as lawsuits go global"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The world\u2019s biggest dairy companies are facing a growing wave of legal action over misleading claims.<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace Denmark has this week filed a formal complaint against Arla – Europe\u2019s largest dairy producer – accusing it of \u201csystematic greenwashing.\u201d The case follows a similar lawsuit by Greenpeace Aotearoa against Fonterra, the world\u2019s largest dairy exporter, over false claims on Anchor-brand butter packaging.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThis is part of a global trend targeting greenwashing in the intensive livestock sector,\u201d said Amanda Larsson, spokesperson for Greenpeace Aotearoa.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cCompanies like Arla and Fonterra market themselves as climate leaders, while hiding highly polluting practices and lobbying against environmental protections.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace Denmark has submitted a formal complaint<\/a> to the Danish Business Authority \u2013 the regulatory body in Arla\u2019s home country \u2013 backed by extensive documentation showing that the dairy giant has significantly overstated its CO\u2082 reductions.<\/p>\n\n

Arla claims to have cut supply chain greenhouse gas emissions by 13 per cent since 2015. However, according to the complaint, nearly half of that reduction occurred suddenly in 2016 when the company changed its calculation methodology without adjusting the baseline accordingly. Greenpeace Denmark argues that this methodological shift not only misleads consumers but also breaches financial reporting laws in both Denmark and Sweden.<\/p>\n\n

Arla\u2019s emissions reporting was previously criticised by Swedish media in 2022<\/a>, after which the company pledged to review this issue. Yet two years later, Greenpeace Denmark has found<\/a> that Arla\u2019s 2024 annual report still relies on the misleading baseline to present its emissions reductions.<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace Sweden has also lodged two formal complaints<\/a> against Arla. <\/p>\n\n

Meanwhile, in New Zealand, Greenpeace is suing Fonterra for promoting its butter as \u201c100% New Zealand grass-fed,\u201d despite allowing up to 20% of cows\u2019 diets to include imported palm kernel – a product linked to deforestation.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe think shoppers would be shocked to know that the block of \u2018grass-fed\u2019 butter they pick up at the supermarket could actually be linked to the destruction of orangutan habitats,\u201d says Larsson.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cMisleading claims like this are a real punch in the guts to people who are trying hard to do their part by shopping ethically \u2013 it\u2019s time for dairy giants like Fonterra and Arla to face the consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

These actions mark an escalation in global legal efforts to hold the livestock industry accountable. Last year, Danish Crown was found guilty of misleading pork ads<\/a>, while a case against meat giant JBS in New York was dismissed. Still, the trend is clear: Big Dairy and Big Meat are under increasing scrutiny for false climate and environmental claims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The world\u2019s biggest dairy companies are facing a growing wave of legal action over misleading claims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":66644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[16,19],"p4-page-type":[7],"class_list":["post-70709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-greenpeace","tag-climate","tag-food-and-farming","p4-page-type-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\nDairy industry greenwashing under fire as lawsuits go global<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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