To The Moon

The 2026 World Dairy Congress opened on August 1st in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, drawing nearly a thousand delegates from government bodies, global dairy supply chains, research institutions, and international organizations to the Qilechuan Grassland to discuss the future of high-quality dairy industry development.

During the event, the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) officially awarded Hohhot the title of 'World Dairy Capital' with a plaque and trophy. This marks a new international milestone for the grassland city, which rose to prominence through its dairy industry, after transitioning from 'China's Dairy Capital' to 'World Dairy Science and Technology Capital'.

Beyond the award itself, the congress focused on sustainability and green supply chains, issuing multiple initiatives and industrial actions. The 'Hohhot Initiative for Sustainable Global Dairy Development' and the 'Dairy Green Chain Transformation Acceleration Plan' both highlight that green supply chains and sustainable development are becoming central directions for the global dairy industry's transformation.

Five Key Initiatives Outline the Direction for Global Dairy Sustainability

With the theme 'Technology-Led, Win-Win Cooperation, Building a Sustainable Global Dairy Ecosystem', sustainability was woven throughout the congress. During the opening ceremony, Hohhot Mayor He Haidong launched the 'Hohhot Initiative for Sustainable Global Dairy Development' on behalf of the congress, proposing five initiatives to build a 'greener, smarter, more inclusive, more open, and safer' global dairy system, providing a clear path for the industry's sustainable future.

The 'greener' initiative garnered significant attention. It calls for 'building a green dairy product chain that is resource-efficient, environmentally friendly, and ecologically prioritized, jointly developing international standards for carbon footprint accounting and low-carbon production, and promoting energy-saving, emission-reduction, and clean production technologies'. Meanwhile, the 'smarter' initiative emphasizes digital upgrades to ensure milk quality; 'inclusivity' focuses on serving the health needs of all life stages and populations; 'openness' advocates for deepening global cooperation across the entire dairy supply chain; and 'safety' aims to strengthen the industry's quality and safety baseline.

For the global dairy industry pursuing green and low-carbon development, this initiative not only addresses the shared needs of industry transformation but also signals a positive commitment from China's dairy sector to actively participate in global sustainable development cooperation and promote green exchange and mutual learning.

The 'Dairy Green Chain Transformation Acceleration Plan' Launched to Drive Industry-Wide Carbon Reduction

If the Hohhot Initiative outlines the future direction of global dairy sustainability, the 'Dairy Green Chain Transformation Acceleration Plan' formally launched at the congress further translates sustainability concepts into actionable industry-wide collaboration.

Initiated by Mengniu in partnership with upstream and downstream collaborators, international certification bodies, and research think tanks, the plan proposes building a collaborative system for green dairy supply chains, establishing green supply chain standards, and focusing on greenhouse gas emission reduction and sustainable resource use. It aims to shift the industry from 'single-point emission reduction' to 'full-chain carbon reduction'.

Green supply chains are becoming a key tool for companies to implement Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles. In recent years, international markets have increasingly focused on supply chain carbon reduction, forest protection, and biodiversity. Dairy carbon reduction efforts are expanding from factory operations to the entire lifecycle, including pastures, feed procurement, packaging materials, and logistics.

It is reported that Mengniu has completed greenhouse gas inventories for Scope 1, 2, and 3 across its full value chain. It is advancing 'zero-deforestation' soybean meal procurement, has achieved 100% traceability of palm oil to refineries, and over 88% of its inner product packaging paper is certified from sustainable forests. Additionally, Mengniu has persisted in ecological restoration for 17 years, planting 98 million trees and reclaiming 220 square kilometers of desertified land. Leveraging the 'mountains, water, forests, fields, lakes, grass, and sand' of the Ulan Buh Desert, it has developed an integrated ecological cycle model combining 'cultivation, breeding, processing, grassland, and dairy', providing a living example for coordinated ecological and industrial development in global arid and semi-arid regions.

The launch of this plan signals that China's dairy industry's green transformation is progressing from individual corporate exploration to a stage of collaborative industry-wide governance.

Global Dairy Leaders Discuss ESG, with Chinese Expertise Drawing Attention

During the congress, Laurence Rycken, Director General of the International Dairy Federation, emphasized that dairy sustainability must balance environmental, social, and economic dimensions, noting the valuable reference value of Chinese companies' practices in low-carbon and innovation. Thanawat Tinsun, Assistant Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and Pavine Chinachoti, Executive Director of the International Union of Food Science and Technology, acknowledged China's breakthrough achievements in global green transformation and technological upgrading.

Qi Batu, Vice Chairman of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, stated that the region would explore new paths for high-quality dairy development through policy empowerment, innovation-driven initiatives, and full-chain development.

Beyond these outcomes, the congress also released the 'White Paper on Breast Milk Science Research' and major technological achievements from the National Dairy Technology Innovation Center, and initiated the construction of the China (Global) Dairy Data Hub and the Global Dairy High-Quality Dataset Factory.

From the 'World Dairy Capital' designation to the launch of the world's first dairy sustainability initiative, and the initiation of a green transformation plan covering the entire industry chain, this congress sends a clear signal: a path for sustainable development, led by sustainability, supported by green supply chains, and driven by technological innovation, is rapidly taking shape.

From 'China's Dairy Capital' to 'World Dairy Capital', Hohhot's transformation reflects not only a city brand upgrade but also a profound shift in the logic of global dairy development. As green development becomes a global consensus and supply chain carbon reduction a key topic for industry collaboration, sustainability is moving from corporate strategy to industrial ecology and from conceptual initiatives to concrete actions. Moving forward, competition in the global dairy industry will hinge not only on producing more high-quality products but also on achieving synergistic growth in economic, social, and ecological value through lower environmental footprints, higher resource efficiency, and stronger industrial resilience.