(Reuters) - Food companies Ajinomoto and Danone unveiled on Thursday a partnership to reduce the dairy industry's greenhouse gas emissions.

WHY IT MATTERS:

Livestock is a major source of methane emissions, often from manure and the routine bodily functions of animals such as cows' belching, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

Furthermore, leading global companies are keen to burnish their ESG (environmental, social and governance) credentials, in which steps taken by companies to protect the environment score highly.

CONTEXT:

The partnership between Ajinomoto and Danone to cut greenhouse gas emissions also comes after six of the world's largest dairy companies - including Danone - last year unveiled an alliance to cut methane emissions at the United Nations COP28 summit.

BY THE NUMBERS:

Danone and Ajinomoto said they would join up to use an Ajinomoto product called AjiPro®-L.

This is used for a cow's digestive system and figures cited by the companies said it decreases nitrous oxide emissions from manure by approximately 25% and - if combined with a methane reduction additive - can amplify the effect of the methane reduction additive by approximately 30%.

KEY QUOTE:

"With partners like Ajinomoto Co., we are expanding our toolkit of solutions that we are bringing to our dairy farmers that have a dual effect - on the one hand reducing on farm GHG emissions whilst on the other, supporting farmers to improve their margin, and as a result, boost their resilience," said Danone's chief procurement officer Jean-Yves Krummenacher.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)