July 17, 2024

Ireland's National Dairy Council advertisement pulled for greenwashing claims

The Advertising Standards Authority of the Republic of Ireland (ASAI) has upheld a complaint against Ireland's National Dairy Council (NDC) for "greenwashing" in a recent advertisement, Plant Based News reported.

The TV ad featured a rugby player claiming in a voiceover that Irish milk is "naturally nutritious, sustainably produced." The ASAI received three complaints stating that the ad was misleading and accused it of greenwashing. The complaints argued that the Irish dairy industry is environmentally damaging, and that agriculture is Ireland's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, they pointed to cattle farming and the use of synthetic fertilisers as major contributors to biodiversity loss in the country.

After considering the complaints and the rebuttal from the NDC, the ASAI concluded that there was no evidence to support the ad's absolute claim that milk was "sustainably produced." Consequently, the ad cannot be shown again in its current form.

This marks the second time in less than a year that the NDC has had to withdraw an ad for greenwashing Irish dairy. In December 2023, the ASAI upheld complaints against an NDC ad claiming that "Irish dairy has one of the lowest dairy carbon footprints in the world." The ad also stated that "litre for litre, Irish milk has a footprint half the size of milk produced in most other countries."

Irish farming groups and politicians frequently assert that Ireland's dairy and beef production is the most "carbon-efficient" in the world. However, data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) shows that Irish milk has a higher emissions intensity than many EU countries and ranks in the middle for beef production.

While the emissions intensity of Irish milk and beef has been decreasing, absolute emissions have increased due to the growth of the dairy herd. Between 2012 and 2022, the number of dairy cows rose by about 40 percent to 1.6 million. Enteric fermentation, meaning methane emitted by cows, accounts for 63 percent of Ireland's agricultural emissions. Dairy alone is responsible for around 17 percent of the country's overall emissions.

To meet its national climate targets, the Irish government has attempted to manage dairy emissions by asking farmers to reduce animal numbers. In 2023, it suggested culling 65,000 dairy cows a year for three years. The government has also acknowledged that Ireland will struggle to meet its emissions reduction targets while milk production continues to increase.

Agricultural practices in Ireland are driving the decline of nature in the country, negatively impacting more than 70 percent of habitats. The range and abundance of more than half of Ireland's native plant species have shrunk due to factors such as grazing pressures and over-fertilisation.

-      Plant Based News