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Rabobank called on to stop billions of dollars in finance to polluting industrial meat and dairy companies
New research published today has found that between 2015-21, Dutch multinational banking and financial services company Rabobank, provided billions of dollars in finance to 18 of the world’s most environmentally destructive industrial livestock companies despite having a commitment to the goals of the Paris Agreement, the Dutch Climate Agreement and Commitment to Sustainable Agriculture and Forests. A group of organisations, including Feedback EU, Feedback Global, World Animal Protection and BankTrack have called on Rabobank to urgently stop financing big livestock companies. In a joint-letter to the bank’s CEO, the group highlights that continued exposure to large scale industrial livestock companies will damage Rabobank’s reputation and business, including risks of lost revenue and stranded assets. The research finds that between 2015-21 Rabobank provided extensive financial services to five of the world’s biggest emitting industrial livestock companies – JBS, Marfrig, Tyson Foods, Dairy Farmers of America and Fonterra, including $1.941 billion in corporate loans, underwriting $1.221 billion million in bond issuances and providing revolving credit facilities. These ‘Big 5’ generated an estimated 550.8 million tonnes of greenhouse gases (GWP100) in 2021, together emitting nearly as much as the total emissions of the Netherlands and the UK combined. Rabobank also provided financial services to Royal Friesland Campina and Vion Food Group. In 2016, these two companies together emitted…