Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Lobby Overview: European Dairy Association (EDA) is strategically engaged on EU climate change policy and opposed key policies which aim to transition diets and reduce emissions from livestock in 2022-24. EDA is a founding member of the European Livestock Voice, an organization dedicated to promoting a role for livestock in the EU.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: European Dairy Association (EDA)’s support for climate policy and emission reductions in its top-line messaging is often accompanied by caveats regarding costs and regulation. In its 2023 Annual Report, published in April 2024, the association appeared to support the EU’s 2050 Climate law but emphasized previous action to reduce emissions by the dairy sector. In its 2022/23 Annual Report, published in 2023, the association did not appear to support EU Green Deal policies relating to agriculture, stressing the “avalanche” of new legislation meant that policymaker strategies were not viable or implementable. In the same 2022/23 Annual Report, EDA stated it engaged at COP27 but did not state a clear position on the UN Climate Treaty.
Engagement with land-use related regulations: European Dairy Association (EDA) engages predominantly negatively with EU land use climate-related policy. EDA does not appear to support transitioning diets to reduce the consumption or production of GHG intensive products, and in 2022-24 consistently emphasized the importance of meat and dairy for human health, this includes numerous press releases and consultations with policymakers. The association advocated for a more “sensible” Farm to Fork Strategy in its 2022/23 Annual Report, stressing the need for more attention on the economic components of the file. EDA consistently opposed the reform of the EU Promotion of Farm Products policy which aimed to align the file with the transition to sustainable diets, for example, in a joint letter to AGRI Commissioner Wojciechowski, sourced via Freedom of Information Request] in February 2022. In an EU public consultation response in July 2022 the association did not appear to support the policy ambition to reduce consumption of dairy products in the Sustainable Food Systems Framework . In its 2022/23 Annual Report EDA emphasized the importance of milk and dairy products in the EU School Milk Scheme, and advocated for increased milk consumption across the EU.
EDA appears to have engaged negatively on climate policy relating to land-based offsetting, advocating for the dairy sector to have access to land-based carbon offsets in its 2022/23 Annual Report published in 2023, a position which is misaligned with IPCC guidance on restricting offsets to hard-to-abate sectors. In a comment to EU policymakers in March 2023 the association advocated that the EU Certification of Carbon Removals Framework should include all types of GHG reductions from the agriculture sector as well as removals, a position which is misaligned with the EU Commission. In an April 2022 EU public consultation response EDA appeared to support a long-term voluntary carbon removal certification framework, rather than transitioning towards mandatory certification in the near future.
In relation to EU policy regulating methane emissions, in its 2023 Annual Report, published in April 2024, the association supported the exclusion of cattle farms from the scope of the Industrial Emissions Directive, a position that weakens the original ambition of the EU Commission.
Position on Energy Transition: European Dairy Association (EDA) does not appear to engage actively on the energy transition. In its 2022/23 Annual Report, the association stated it engaged with the EU Commission on the REPowerEU policy to advocate for priority access to energy for the dairy sector but did not clearly support reducing EU dependency on Russian fossil fuels and rolling out renewable energy.