Mengniu Dairy leading way to green future with sustainable focus

As a representative of Chinese enterprises, Mengniu Dairy has shared the industry's practical experience in promoting green, low-carbon and sustainable development in China, and fulfilled the country's commitments to address climate change at the ongoing 28th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The conference, known as COP 28, is taking place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from Thursday to Dec 12.

Serving as one of the world's most important climate events, this year's conference has attracted 198 parties to discuss efforts on mitigating the climate change and adapting to its negative effects.

Under severe situations of global warming, experts said reducing carbon emissions and responding to climate change have become important issues the global dairy industry must face.

In recent years, Mengniu, one of the major dairy product manufacturers in China, has taken the protection of common health for humanity and Earth as its sustainable development vision.

The company has also formulated a GREEN sustainable development strategy that is in line with the United Nations' sustainable development goals.

GREEN refers to sustainable corporate governance, the dairy industry's responsibility of promoting common prosperity, environmentally friendly and green production, industry ecosystem, and nutritious and affordable products, according to the company.

Moreover, Mengniu has been participating in the country's dual carbon strategy, and making continuous efforts in ecological protection and carbon reduction.

It has put forward strategic goals of peaking carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

The company has resorted to 15 key measures covering six sectors such as production, packaging, logistics and carbon offsetting, to boost green and low-carbon development in three phases and carry out systematic carbon reductions in all links of the industrial chain.

Due to its performance in practicing ESG — environmental, social and governance — principles across its operations, Mengniu received the AA rating, the highest level, from the evaluator MSCI ESG Ratings in September, becoming one of the dairy companies in China to do so.

Green actions

To combat climate change, upstream and downstream dairy enterprises need to make concerted efforts to conduct green and sustainable actions.

Mengniu has guided, coordinated and led these companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote green and low-carbon transition in an orderly manner.

The company has also carried out five measures in pastures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. They include adjusting the composition of livestock feeds, optimizing manure management and improving the efficiency of energy utilization. In 2022, Mengniu reduced 180,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Also, the company has been planting trees for years in the Ulan Buh Desert, the country's eighth-largest in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. As of now, it has planted more than 97 million trees and greened over 200 square kilometers of desert. This initiative has been included in the Corporate Net Zero Pathway report issued by the UN Global Compact.

In China, Mengniu has built 30 national-level green factories. Its Qujing factory in Yunnan province, for example, has passed zero-carbon certifications both in China and overseas.

The factory achieves net-zero emissions by using green building materials, clean energy and low-carbon raw materials.

The company also established the world's first fully intelligent dairy factory in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region in Northwest China earlier this year. Compared to traditional companies that require some 1,000 employees, this factory only needs 100 workers.

It can produce 1 million tons of dairy products annually and generate an annual output value of 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion).

As for packaging, Mengniu promises to make technical breakthroughs in developing 100 percent environmentally friendly materials by 2025.

It also strives to lead the industry by using low-carbon materials to package all of its products, in a bid to minimize the effects on the environment.

Other efforts the company has been making include the launch of forest protection actions and a related document. According to it, Mengniu vows to realize zero deforestation by 2030, and to work with its global suppliers to eliminate the risk of deforestation during the production of soybeans, palm oil and packaging materials.

During the sixth China International Import Expo held in November, Mengniu and Modern Farming signed a memorandum of cooperation with COFCO International, reaching an agreement to purchase "zero-deforestation" soybeans.

This soybean order is of great significance, helping to build more resilient agricultural green supply chains globally. It was highly praised by Klaus Schwab, executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.

Enhanced globalization

As a forerunner in China's dairy industry to boost globalization, Mengniu has been strengthening international exchanges and cooperation, as well as sharing the company's innovative practices in overall industrial chain green development and biodiversity protection.

It aims to contribute Chinese wisdom to the world and enhance the international influence of China's dairy industry.

Mengniu has joined hands with the World Economic Forum's Tropical Forest Alliance, the Consumer Goods Forum's Forest Positive Effect Working Group and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil to assist the construction of green supply chains and promote related projects.

The company was also the first Chinese dairy product manufacturer to join the global climate initiative of Pathways to Dairy Net Zero.

By 2030, Mengniu is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in pastures by 1 million tons and improve the quality of soil covering 66,667 hectares. It will also protect and plant a total of 1 trillion trees with its global partners, according to the company.