Milieudefensie conducted a research into the climate impact of the three largest meat and dairy multinationals of the Netherlands. And of course meat giant Vion is amongst them...

First the facts: in 2019 Vion produced 1,022 thousand tons of pork and 213 thousand tons of beef. The total emissions, looking at the entire chain, is thus 11.6 megatons. This is comparable to one third of all emissions from road traffic in the Netherlands.

Despite saying "Vion assumes responsibility for a sustainable food supply", Vion does hardly anything to reduce its climate impact. At most, the company aims to reduce the CO₂ footprint of its factory processes, which would lead to a reduction of 2.2%. Vion mostly places the responsibility elsewhere in the chain. According to the report, because the number of pigs and dairy cows in the Netherlands is expected to decrease anyway, Vion will also slaughter less, reaching 9.7 megaton emissions in 2030. However, Vion has recently taken over a slaughterhouse in Belgium and has plans for further expansion, so we are afraid the problem will just be displaced elsewhere.

Milieudefensie's report states: "According to international standards, multinationals have the obligation to identify, prevent, reduce and report (risks of) negative impacts on the environment and human rights throughout their supply chain (due diligence). In practice, this due diligence also concerns the climate. It is clear that FrieslandCampina, Vion and the VanDrie Group are not taking this responsibility to the chain when it comes to combating negative climate impact."

Vion, as always, pretends to be innocent, lies ("pig meat is more sustainable than tofu...") and prefers to point fingers at others.

We see only one solution: shut this place down, and make them pay for all the pollution and misery!

Postscript: As we expected, Vion denies the figures: "Vion calculates its current greenhouse gas emissions at 4 megatonnes, a third of what Milieudefensie calculates" according to the newspaper FD. However, Vion does not provide any calculation methods, so there is nothing we can do with this. Vion also repeats their nonsense that meat replacements are comparable to pork in terms of emissions. We have sent a response to newspapers that shared this quote. To be continued!