The Global Dairy Agenda for Action on Climate Change is a statement of commitment by the dairy supply chain to take action to address climate change.

The dairy supply chain is committed to providing consumers with the nutritious dairy products they want, in a way that is economically viable, environmentally sound and socially responsible. This includes reducing emissions of greenhouse gases such as methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide that are associated with the production of a unit of dairy product and which contribute to climate change.

The dairy supply chain recognised the need to work together in order to address this significant challenge. Climate change initiatives have already been launched around the world, but the signatories and participants of the Agenda for Action identified the need to pool knowledge and resources to achieve the changes in technology and practice needed to further reduce emissions.

In response to growing awareness and understanding of the causes and impacts of climate change, the signatories and participants of this Agenda for Action also recognised the need to raise awareness on the role of dairy production in climate change, as well as the contribution that dairy farming and dairy products make to global nutritional, social and economic wellbeing.

The result is that, for the first time, a wide range of dairy farming and industry organisations, national and regional dairy associations, and companies from throughout the dairy supply chain, have come together in a united effort to address this important challenge.

The Agenda for Action has been developed with input from across the dairy supply chain and from a wide range of dairy producing countries, including developing countries, and was signed at the World Dairy Summit in Berlin on 24 September 2009.

Along with the Green Paper cataloguing specific initiatives and commitments, the Agenda for Action is a living document that will provide a platform for future cooperation and action by the dairy supply chain. It is expected that the actions and commitments recorded will develop over time as the dairy supply chain works together alongside other stakeholders to achieve the objectives originally set out.