NatWest's mobile app is still encouraging customers to reduce meat consumption, despite ongoing discussions with the NFU over the past eight months to revise this approach.

The bank has made some adjustments to its emissions tracker on the personal banking app, although the NFU expressed continued disappointment.

Since November 2023, the NFU’s livestock team has engaged in meetings with NatWest, following concerns about the app's greenhouse gas tracker. This feature provides users with a personalised carbon footprint score and advises them to reduce red meat consumption and switch to plant-based milks to lower their emissions.

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In response to these meetings, NatWest has modified some aspects of the app’s language. The recommendations to ‘swap out beef’ and ‘switch to plant-based milk’ have been replaced with advice to ‘buy local, British, and seasonal produce’.

However, the app continues to promote actions like ‘veggie Mondays’, ‘choosing vegetarian’, and ‘choosing (mostly) plant-based’ as ways for customers to cut down on their emissions.

NFU livestock board chair, David Barton, voiced the union's dissatisfaction: "As a NatWest customer myself, that the bank is still encouraging the reduction of meat consumption on its app, suggesting it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“People should be free to choose whatever diet they wish to follow, but it must be an informed choice.

“We understand that the NatWest app is primarily focusing on emissions, but the reality is that when making diet related recommendations, other factors such as nutrition, environment, and biodiversity must be presented.”

He emphasised that focusing solely on GHG emissions misses the wider benefits of British meat. British meat and dairy are considered among the most sustainable globally, with UK beef emissions being less than half the global average.

Additionally, red meat and dairy are essential parts of a balanced diet, offering high-quality protein, calcium, and nutrients such as iron, zinc, and vitamin B12.

In August, NatWest representatives visited Barton's farm near Cirencester to discuss the environmental challenges and opportunities faced by the red meat and banking sectors.

Barton urged the banking sector to present a more balanced message when offering recommendations to customers, stating: “Meat is one of the most nutritionally dense, minimally processed foods that we can consume, and by buying it we are enhancing our landscape, protecting biodiversity, and supporting rural communities."