Change to the DSF GHG Emissions Indicator Metric

Greenhouse Gas Emissions is one of the most highly prioritised of the 11 DSF Criteria and was due to begin its reporting this year.  In 2019 the Global Dairy Platform (GDP) and Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO), supported by the DSF, published the report Climate change and the global dairy cattle sector.  This report provided an independent assessment of the global dairy sector’s emissions over a 10-year period.  The report gives considerable detail on both global and regional production, development and associated emissions enabling quantification of the sector’s progress from 2005 to 2015.

Appreciating the value of independent studies and the potential limited robustness of the data aggregation process, the DSF has explored the option of repeating similar independent analysis every five years.  Dialogue with the DSF Members Development Group, Advisory Council and Executive Working Group resulted in a proposal for a change of Indicator Metric for the GHG criteria to be presented to the DSF Governors for consideration.  The proposal was approved and endorsed by the DSF Governors in October and members have been notified of the change which has been adopted with immediate effect.

DSF members who have prioritised GHG emissions will still be asked to continue to calculate their GHG emissions every three years but won’t need to report this to the DSF for the time being.  Instead, they will be asked to share with the DSF the activities they are undertaking in case study format every two years.  The DSF will commission an independent study every five years using the global data reported by the FAO to generate the global dairy GHG emissions situation.  As more data is gathered in this way, a trend line will be generated.  The next report will cover the period 2015 - 2020.