Swedish alternative milk brand Oatly has launched a campaign in the UK calling for all dairy food and drink companies to publish the climate footprint of their products.

The oat drink company has published a ‘grey paper’ titled Climate Labelling: Why Not?, focusing on three arguments:

• The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has made the explicit recommendation that the world must reduce its dairy intake by 20% by 2030 in order to reduce emissions
• Consumers are already able to see climate labelling when purchasing other products like TVs and fridges
• There is broad support for this initiative as a means to make informed choices.

Oatly has challenged the dairy industry to reveal its “climate numbers” as a way for shoppers to make a truly like-for-like comparison, offering free advertising space to dairy companies if they publish the climate footprint of their products. It ran a similar campaign in the USA at the beginning of 2023.

Bryan Carroll, Oatly UK general manager, said: “The food and drink we consume is responsible for a third of total UK emissions. Scientists, including the UK Government’s own Climate Change Committee, are clear that those emissions must urgently come down and that consumer behaviour change is a necessary part of that.

“Our view is that it’s unreasonable to expect this to happen when consumers are not being given the information they need to make informed choices. Given the urgency of our climate challenge, we believe it should be as easy for shoppers to find the climate impact of what they’re buying, as it is to find its price tag.”

Carroll continued: “We’ve published a ‘grey paper’ because climate labelling isn’t a black and white issue where certain foods are good and others are not.

“This is about giving consumers the freedom to make informed choices about what they’re buying and how it impacts the planet – from grower to grocer. We’re inviting those across the full spectrum of the food industry to come together and work out what an effective climate labelling system should look like.”

Oatly said it will continue to “call on the food and drink industry to come together and pressure policy-makers to implement mandatory climate labelling.”

The oat drink manufacturer has previously come under fire regarding its usage of inaccurate climate figures in two campaign adverts, with 109 people launching complaints with the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA).