The National Dairy Council (NDC) has welcomed a new international declaration which aims to "reiterate and reinforce" the dairy sector's commitment to sustainability.

The Paris Dairy Declaration on Sustainability was adopted by the International Dairy Federation at the conclusion of its World Dairy Summit in the French capital last week.

The declaration states that the global dairy sector is committed to a "sustainable transformation" of the whole value chain.

The declaration expressed support for the definition of sustainability adopted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), which says that sustainability requires meeting the "needs of present and future generations, while ensuring profitability, environmental health, and social and economic equity".

The declaration said that sustainable food and agriculture should contribute to the "four pillars" of food security, namely availability, access, utilisation and stability.

The NDC said: "This involves all actors of the dairy value chain, from farm to fork, including all farmers and processors, whether small, medium or large; co-operatives; dairy workers and leaders; scientists and experts; traders; dairy unions; and anyone engaged in the process of producing dairy in the widest sense of the term."

Mark Keller, interim CEO of the National Dairy Council, said: "Dairy is a highly nutritious food which we need to promote and protect in light of environmental challenges that we face. As an extraordinarily successful indigenous industry in Ireland, we need to continue to promote the benefits of dairy as part of a sustainable diet.

"In Ireland, our dairy farmers are fully committed to farm more sustainably on a journey to lower emissions... This will require a unified effort by the dairy industry in Ireland and every other country around the world. Irish dairy farmers are well on this journey and should be applauded for their commitment to a sustainable and secure dairy production system," Keller added.

According to the NDC, dairy is one of the most important sources of basic nutrients for quality nutrition, and also generates livelihoods for one billion people around the world.

According to the International Dairy Federation, the declaration outlines the commitments undertaken by dairy operators towards the various pillars of sustainability, and "sends a clear message to governments, decision makers, and the public on the dynamism of the dairy sector".

However, the federation also said that the dairy sector cannot undertake this work on its own, and needs "enabling environments" to leverage and scale up the actions in order to reach targets.

The International Dairy Federation called on delegations from all FAO member countries, as well as dairy leaders and stakeholders, to endorse its declaration and commit to "engage in every effort to live up to the challenges of achieving the goals on time, by leveraging the vast potential of the dairy sector in every corner of the globe".