CEO Note: A world first on methane

Albert Heijn, the largest retailer in The Netherlands, has disclosed that methane accounted for approximately 14% of its total climate pollution last year as part of its Scope 3 emissions. This marks a first for major supermarkets, contradicting previous industry claims that such calculations were too complex. The author calls for Ahold Delhaize to extend this disclosure to its US-based brands and urges retailers to implement concrete reduction strategies, such as promoting plant-based alternatives and requiring suppliers to set methane targets.

• Albert Heijn, the largest retailer in The Netherlands and a flagship brand of Ahold Delhaize, is the first major supermarket to publicly disclose its methane emissions, reporting that methane made up about 14% of its total climate pollution last year within its Scope 3 emissions.
• Research by Mighty Earth and the Changing Markets Foundation previously found that none of the 20 largest global supermarket chains reported methane emissions, despite the influence of livestock in their supply chains.
• The MethaneSAT satellite, which had identified high methane emissions from agriculture specifically in the US Midwest, has ceased functioning, creating a gap in global monitoring efforts.
• Mighty Earth is urging Ahold Delhaize to expand methane disclosure to its US supermarket chains, including Food Lion, Giant, Hannaford, and Stop & Shop, and is calling for retailers to reduce emissions by investing in alt proteins and increasing plant-based sales.

APA

Hurowitz, G. (2025). CEO Note: A world first on methane. Mighty Earth. https://mightyearth.org/article/ceo-note-a-world-first-on-methane/

Chicago

Hurowitz, Glenn. CEO Note: A world first on methane. Mighty Earth, 2025. https://mightyearth.org/article/ceo-note-a-world-first-on-methane/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Hurowitz |first1=Glenn |title=CEO Note: A world first on methane |publisher=Mighty Earth |date=25 July 2025 |url=https://mightyearth.org/article/ceo-note-a-world-first-on-methane/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{hurowitz2025ceo, author = {Hurowitz, Glenn}, title = {{CEO Note: A world first on methane}}, publisher = {Mighty Earth}, year = {2025}, month = jul, url = {https://mightyearth.org/article/ceo-note-a-world-first-on-methane/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }