How EDF catalyzes bold climate action from the food sector

By Katie Anderson, Senior Director, EDF+Business, Food & Forests

As a mom of two young kids and senior director of EDF’s team driving climate action from food and agriculture companies, my work often feels personal. 

After engaging with sustainability teams and leaders at major food companies in my workday, I see these same companies’ brands every time I look in my kitchen pantry – and I know they’re in the pantries of families around the world.  

It’s exciting to move the needle toward a future where my kids’ favorite meals and snacks will be better for our planet.  

Why does EDF work with food companies? 

Environmental Defense Fund works with major food companies for the same reason we engage with other sectors: We follow the emissions.  

Global food systems account for one-third of all global climate emissions. In fact, even if we eliminated fossil fuel emissions today, business-as-usual global food system emissions could still cause us to have dangerous levels of warming, unless we act soon.  

At the same time, agriculture is also a sector already feeling the impacts of a hotter planet. Climate impacts like droughts and heat waves are threatening the livelihoods of the nearly 900 million people who work in agriculture production. 

The food sector also has a huge opportunity for near-term impact: When it comes to methane, a particularly potent greenhouse gas in the near term, agriculture is responsible for 40% of global emissions caused by people. The majority of those emissions come from livestock — specifically, cow burps and cow manure. 

This means that food companies, and especially those with livestock in their supply chains, have an incredible opportunity to make a major impact on the climate — with positive outcomes for farmers, ranchers, companies, and consumers around the world. 

That’s where my team at EDF comes in. 

Our strategy

Corporations are some of the most powerful climate actors with the potential for the greatest global impact, and we provide the expertise and scientific resources to help them tackle the climate crisis. By working with leading corporations to advance sustainability, we also create ripple effects across entire industries. 

EDF pioneered partnerships with corporations over 30 years ago, and in that time, we’ve worked with 1 in 3 Fortune 100 companies to pursue triple win solutions for people, profits, and the planet. 

In our work with food companies, my team of experts focuses on translating the best available scientific, economic and policy knowledge into practical advice for companies looking to reduce emissions in the food supply chain.  

This could mean leveraging our nitrogen balance science to engage farmers in reducing N2O emissions, a powerful greenhouse gas, or it might mean demystifying the solutions market to mitigate methane from cow burps. It also includes supporting EDF Climate Corps fellows, who help develop and deploy sustainability strategies at major companies.  

Because no single company or sector can act alone, we also engage with policymakers and investors to enable supportive public policy and effective new innovations, catalyzing ambitious climate action across the food sector.  

On food choices 

Our food choices have a climate impact. And those choices look different for all of us. 

We know that many people around the world, such as those living in food deserts, have limited choices in what food they can access.  

For those of us lucky enough to be able to choose from a variety of foods, those choices are made for all kinds of cultural, personal, and economic reasons — such as breaking a traditional fast, feeding a picky toddler a favorite food, or adhering to a household budget. 

Around the world, but especially in developing countries, livestock play a key role in meeting nutritional needs, fertilizing crops, creating financial collateral, and generating income.  

Many of the companies we engage with have global supply chains that include smallholder farmers in the Global South, for example, whose financial security may rest on selling milk from a single cow. 

This is why, in EDF’s work with food companies, we’re working to ensure that every bite of food and sip of a drink has as low emissions as possible, as soon as feasible.  

Celebrating progress 

Last year marked a year of significant steps forward in our engagement with food companies, and we were proud to celebrate these moments:  

1. We announced our official partnership with Danone to work with the company on its first-of-its-kind pledge to reduce methane emissions from its fresh milk supply chain 30% by 2030. 
2. We celebrated the success of one the first farm financing programs in the U.S. that rewards environmental stewardship, which we launched in partnership with Farmers Business Network. 
3. At COP28, we launched the Dairy Methane Action Alliance to drive reductions in methane from dairy, with six food and dairy giants representing over $200 billion in global annual sales—and many popular brands in pantries around the world. 

Of course, there is much more to be done. Stay tuned for more announcements and news about our work with food companies to drive triple-win solutions for a resilient and sustainable food system — and a climate-friendlier pantry, for families like mine.