Often overlooked, methane is a powerful greenhouse gas responsible for around 30% of heating since pre-industrial levels. The global food system plays the most significant role in producing methane: agriculture – and primarily meat and dairy production – is the largest source of human-caused methane emissions globally, responsible for 42%. Due to the impact methane has on short-term warming, rapid cuts in methane emissions have been described by scientists as a ‘climate emergency brake’. However, there is a wider case for cutting emissions from food systems: even if fossil fuel emissions stopped today, food production alone would still push the planet dangerously close to a 2 °C temperature rise.iv While CO2 reductions remain essential, focusing on methane reductions is critical to slowing warming in the near term.

Food retailers – or supermarkets – are the gateway to this system. As a main point of sale for food, they shape supply chains and influence consumer choices, placing them in a uniquely powerful position to drive emission reductions. Yet, despite this influence, the sector is defined by a growing leadership vacuum on methane, with the world’s most powerful food retailers failing to act on one of the most critical levers to slow climate change.

Shelved Again: Supermarkets’ Missing Action on Methane builds on last year’s Clean Up on Aisle 3 report and its Methane Action Tracker, which set a benchmark by assessing 20 of the world’s largest food retailers. The 20 retailers are not marginal actors: combined, they generate an estimated $2 trillion in annual revenue – comparable to the GDP of countries such as Brazil and Italy.viii As gatekeepers of the global food system, their decisions shape supply chains, agricultural practices and consumer diets at scale, giving them both the means and responsibility to act on methane. In 2026, we assessed these 20 retailers for the second time on methane-related disclosures, commitments and action plans, as well as the wider climate measures they have in place.

The findings reveal that the sector has failed to make meaningful progress on methane. Despite growing awareness of methane’s role in driving climate change, not a single retailer assessed publicly reported its methane emissions or published a target to reduce them. At a time when momentum is building elsewhere, with dairy and coffee brands beginning to disclose their methane emissions and develop action plans, and the first meat company setting a methane target, food retailers are falling behind.

This lack of action is particularly stark among US retailers, which, along with the Spanish retailer Mercadona, continued to occupy the lowest ranks of the scorecard, reflecting a structural lack of climate accountability. Kroger is the only US retailer not in the bottom five. European retailers perform comparatively better, but the overall picture remains one of inconsistency and insufficient ambition. While some companies have improved their scores – most notably Edeka-Verbund, which recorded the largest increase (+17.5 points) – others have moved backwards, such as Asda, which showed the most significant decline (-7.5 points).

The lack of progress on methane is not due to the lack of understanding of the problem. Our research shows that 14 out of the 20 retailers publicly acknowledged the climate impact of methane from livestock in some way. More retailers now offer a wide range of plant-based alternative protein products and more report comparable data on the sales of their meat and dairy products and plant-based protein* alternatives; both of which are key steps to tackling methane emissions by shifting consumption away from high-emitting meat and dairy products. While no retailer has committed to a 60/40 plant-to-animal protein sales split, four have set less ambitious targets. Carrefour is the only company to score full points across the food waste category, which, while welcome, cannot substitute for action on meat and dairy methane emissions.

Although Tesco scored highest for the second time, it has failed to raise the bar one year on. Alongside Tesco, Lidl and Ahold Delhaize – ranking second and third respectively – all scored above 40 points out of 100 and have taken some important steps, including overall GHG emissions reporting, validated SBTi targets and, though limited, targets to increase sales of plant-based meat and dairy alternatives. Yet, like others, the top three fell short of credible methane action, and their position at the top of the ranking reflects weak sector-wide performance rather than meaningful leadership.

With seven of the top nine retailers having improved their scores compared to last year, the upper ranks are tightening, and there has been a slight reshuffling among the top five positions. In the middle of the tracker, a group of retailers started to improve. At the bottom sit three retailers that scored no points at all – Albertsons, Mercadona and Publix – and two more – Costco and Walmart – which scored below ten points.

This analysis points to a piecemeal approach, which indicates that methane remains a blind spot for retailers, not in terms of awareness, but in delivery. There is a lack of clear leadership, leaving a vacuum at the top and an opportunity for retailers within the top ten to lead by example and push the sector forward.

This is a critical oversight at a time when the first major food company to set a methane target, Danone, is already close to achieving a 30% reduction five years ahead of its 2030 deadline, demonstrating that rapid cuts are both feasible and already underway when companies set targets and commit to transparency.

The message from this year’s scorecard is clear: there is still a leadership vacuum in methane action. Despite being among the most powerful actors in the global food system and uniquely positioned to deliver rapid emissions reductions, major supermarkets have failed to raise the bar.

This report calls for retailers to set science-based methane reduction targets of at least 30% by 2030 (from a 2020 baseline), backed by a comprehensive methane action plan covering the entire value chain and underpinned by transparent disclosure of emissions. By increasing and actively promoting their plant-based offerings and working towards a target of 60% plant-based protein against 40% animal-based protein by 2030, food retailers can strengthen their climate and methane action while enabling the necessary shift to more sustainable and healthy diets.

* The term ‘plant-based proteins’ includes wholefood and vegetable proteins as well as meat and dairy substitutes.