The global meat and dairy industry is no longer just a matter of agriculture or food, but a major player in the climate crisis, with the impact of a polluting “superpower”. This is what emerges from a new and detailed analysis, entitled “Roasting the Planet: Big Meat and Dairy’s Big Emissions” (Roasting the Planet: the large emissions of the meat and dairy giants), published by a group of environmental and food policy experts, including Foodrise, Friends of the Earth US, Greenpeace Nordic and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).
REVEALED: Emissions from major global meat and dairy companies rival those of Saudi Arabia, as laid bare in our powerful…
Posted by Foodrise – for climate, nature, justice on Monday, October 20, 2025
One billion tons of greenhouse gases
Between 2022 and 2023, the world’s 45 largest meat and dairy companies collectively generated over one billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions. This volume exceeds the total emissions of Saudi Arabia, the world’s second largest oil producer. The analysis highlights that if these 45 companies were considered a single country, they would rank ninth in the world for greenhouse gas emissions.
The impact is even more evident when compared to the fossil fuel giants. Just the top five emitters in the ranking – giants JBS, Marfrig, Tyson, Minerva and Cargill – together produced around 480 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2023, an amount that exceeds that generated by oil giants Chevron, Shell or BP.
Methane, the climate accelerator
Over half of the estimated emissions (precisely 51%) derive from methane (CH4). This amount of methane emissions, generated by the 45 companies, is more than that produced by all the countries of the European Union and the United Kingdom combined in 2023 alone.
Methane is a highly climate-altering and relatively short-lived greenhouse gas, and is considered a crucial climate “emergency brake”. According to scientists, global methane emissions must fall by 45% by 2030 to have a chance of keeping global warming within the 1.5°C limit set by the Paris Agreement. Failure to cut livestock emissions will lead us, according to experts, “well beyond the limit threshold”, one step away from climate catastrophe.
Italy among the 20 biggest polluters
The analysis highlights the disproportionate weight of some actors. Brazilian meat giant JBS comes in first place, generating almost a quarter (24%) of all emissions produced by the companies examined, with over 240 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2023. Overall, the dossier shows that around three-quarters of total greenhouse gas emissions come from just 15 of the 45 companies on the list, a figure that highlights the disproportionate weight of the meat giants and dairy products.
An Italian name also appears in the ranking: the Cremonini Group, which ranks twentieth among the 45 analyzed. The company produced 14.41 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2023, a significant figure when compared to the 42.8 million tonnes of total livestock emissions estimated by FAO for Italy. The Cremonini Group, which controls Inalca (leader in the beef sector and known for brands such as Montana and Manzotin), is remembered by Greenpeace as one of the most powerful and influential players in the livestock sector in Italy. Inalca, together with other companies, is part of the top 5 of the Italian companies with the highest revenues in the field of meat and dairy products, with profits in the billions, equal to more than 1.6 billion euros according to the latest available financial statements.
The request to the States: agroecological transition
In view of the Conference of the Parties on Climate (COP30), which will be held in Belém, in the heart of the Amazon (an area heavily affected by deforestation linked to the meat industry), the authors of the report and environmental organizations are appealing to governments for an urgent transition.
Recommendations for world leaders to limit the overproduction and excessive consumption of meat and dairy include:
