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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →McDonald’s beef has a deforestation policy and reported progress, but the company’s figures do not show that all of its beef is deforestation-free or that its beef has zero climate impact. In 2024, 77% of beef from four designated high-priority origins was verified deforestation-free through geo-monitoring; those origins accounted for 10% of McDonald’s global beef volume. The company says 90% of its beef came from low-priority origins under the policy, a separate measure with a different scope.
What McDonald’s means by deforestation-free beef
McDonald’s says it developed its Deforestation-Free Beef Procurement Policy with Proforest. The policy sets requirements for beef associated with Argentina, Australia, Brazil and Paraguay, which the company classifies as high-priority origins. It says it works with geo-monitoring providers and external partners to check adherence against social and environmental criteria. McDonald’s describes the policy and its sourcing approach.
The company also says it collaborates with farmers, ranchers, suppliers, NGOs and scientists on approaches intended to protect native landscapes, support biodiversity and producer resilience, and sequester carbon in soils. These are stated aims and activities; they are not, by themselves, proof that every farm or every pound of beef achieves those outcomes.
What the 2024 percentages do—and do not—say
| Reported figure | What it covers | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| 77% verified deforestation-free through geo-monitoring | Beef from high-priority origins Argentina, Australia, Brazil and Paraguay, as reported by McDonald’s Corporation in 2025 for 2024 performance. Those origins represented 10% of global beef volume. | It is not 77% of all McDonald’s beef. It is a deforestation-free sourcing indicator, not a measure of lifecycle emissions. |
| 90% sourced from low-priority origins | McDonald’s report of its 2024 beef sourcing under its policy. | It is not the same as the 77% verification figure and does not mean that this beef was individually verified deforestation-free under the high-priority-origin measure. |
McDonald’s says its reporting scope follows supply from raw material suppliers in priority origins through beef suppliers to the McDonald’s System and restaurants selling beef. It excludes grain-fed Australian beef and beef used as a secondary ingredient, such as flavoring in a sauce. The company also says methodology refinements may affect comparisons with previously reported results. See its deforestation-free sourcing reporting.
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Climate targets are separate from sourcing verification
McDonald’s lists a 2030 target to reduce absolute Scope 3 Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) emissions by 16% from a 2018 base year, and to maintain no deforestation across its primary deforestation-linked commodities. Its goal-performance page marks the goals as in progress and says progress may not be linear. The 16% figure is a target, not a reported achievement.
The company’s broader climate reporting also includes separate Scope 1 and 2 targets and Scope 3 targets for energy and industrial emissions. Those figures should not be substituted for the FLAG target: they cover different emissions categories. Deforestation monitoring, meanwhile, does not establish that beef production has no greenhouse-gas emissions across its lifecycle.
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What the regenerative grazing projects show
United Kingdom project
McDonald’s UK says a regenerative grazing project it supported during 2024 involved 11 farms, approximately 7,500 acres and more than 3,500 cattle. The project is intended to measure effects on nature, soil, biodiversity, water, carbon sequestration and climate resilience. The figures describe the project’s scale, not proof that all McDonald’s UK beef—or global supply—has lower emissions. McDonald’s UK also reports that an independent study it commissioned on more than 200 beef farms in 2016 found participating farmers reduced their carbon footprints by nearly 23% over six years and identified potential annual savings of up to £23,000. Those figures are reported by the company about that study; the published account does not provide enough methodological detail to generalize them to its global beef supply. Details appear on McDonald’s UK’s beef sourcing page.
Planned United States investment
The Associated Press reported on September 15, 2025, that McDonald’s planned to invest $200 million over seven years in regenerative agriculture practices on ranches spanning up to 4 million acres in up to 38 states. AP reported that the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation would independently award grants. This is a reported plan, not completed spending or evidence of achieved environmental outcomes. The Associated Press report covers the announced initiative.
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How to judge the sustainability claim
“Sustainable” can refer to different things, so the most useful assessment separates the evidence into distinct questions:
- Deforestation and ecosystem conversion: What origins are covered, what share is monitored, and what does the verification measure?
- Climate impact: Are emissions measured across the supply chain, including land-use emissions, and are reported results distinguished from future targets?
- Farm practices: Are effects on soil, water and biodiversity measured, and are project results representative of the wider supply?
- Coverage and traceability: Which regions, products and ingredients are included or excluded?
- Evidence status: Is a figure a company-reported policy indicator, an in-progress target, a project activity, or an independently assessed outcome?
On the available reporting, McDonald’s has a defined policy for high-priority origins, reports monitoring progress and is funding or supporting selected farm projects. The company’s figures are useful for understanding what it says it is tracking, but most of the performance evidence comes from McDonald’s itself. The Associated Press independently reported the planned US investment; that report is not an independent lifecycle assessment of McDonald’s beef. The cited materials do not provide a direct comparative lifecycle-emissions figure for McDonald’s beef versus other foods.
Quick Recap
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