Sometimes, the track towards sustainability is a long and complex one, but always rewarding. The most recent effort in dairy is Pathways to Net Zero. It has been around for over a year, being set up in 2021 as a collaboration between the Dairy Sustainability Framework (DSF), Global Dairy Platform (GDP), International Dairy Federation, International Livestock Research Institute, SAI Platform, and the IFCN to develop sustainability pathways for all dairy systems. The objective is to track and report on sustainability performance to better manage and mitigate the negative impacts of the industry. Every year, the partaking dairy companies feedback their progress and number one priorities, which for some time has overwhelmingly been GHGs, with animal care and biodiversity as close followers, Donald Moore, DSF chairman and GDP executive director, pointed out. The DSF has been working with the others to help the ten highest methane emitters globally reduce their carbon footprint, according to its director Brian Lindsay. DSF itself was an initiative, being launched in 2013 and committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) across the global dairy sector. It now covers over 30 per cent of global milk production and 50 per cent of formal global milk production. Alongside GHGs, the DSF has ten other criteria that it is working to positively impact: soil nutrients, soil quality and retention, water availability and quality, biodiversity, working conditions, animal care, waste, market development, rural economies, and product safety and quality.
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