Global Warming and Livestock: Making the Links

Global Warming and Livestock: Making the Links

Fact-sheet by Climate Change 911

• From local to global, livestock is one of the top contributors of serious environmental problems
• Land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, loss of biodiversity, extinction
• Agriculture is the leading cause of forest destruction and a major contributor to climate change (1)
• Animal products, both meat and dairy, require more resources and cause higher long-term greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than plant-based alternatives
• Meat from cows cause about 40 times higher GHG per kilogram of protein compared to beans, and around 10 times higher compared to chickens (2)
• A UN report in 2010, "Priority, Products, and Materials", puts agriculture's global GHG emissions at 14%
• This means that agriculture is responsible for more GHG emissions than all forms of transport combined
• Agricultural CO2 emissions may double in 50 years to 13 Gton in 2070, compared to 7.1 Gton in 2000. (2)
• 70% of agricultural GHG emissions come from livestock, cows, sheep and other animals.
• The U.S. and the European Union have the highest meat consumption per capita in the world – and it continues to rise.
• In low- and mid-income countries, meat and dairy consumption increases along with income levels. (1)
• A World Watch Institute report suggest that GHG emissions from livestock and their by-products may be much higher than 14% (up to 51%)
• Livestock contribute about 40% of methane emissions in agriculture
• Livestock production is projected to increase substantially over the next decades (1)

• If we acknowledge the need to address climate change, then we cannot carry on with intense GHG activities like eating meat and dairy that are causing the damage in the first place
• Adopting a plant-based diet is as important as renewable energy and energy conservation
• In fact, eliminating all carbon dioxide emissions from the energy and transportation sectors is not enough because GHG from food and agriculture, mainly nitrous oxide from agricultural soils and methane from livestock, will continue to cause global warming (2)
• Halting the increase of greenhouse-gas emissions from livestock could curb warming fairly rapidly
• A University of Aberdeen study found that a worldwide adoption of a vegan diet would reduce CO2 emissions by a massive 7.8 gigatonnes
• Making our food system more efficient and eating healthier food can reduce annual carbon emissions from global agriculture by as much as 50 to 90 percent by 2030 - the equivalent of removing all the cars in the world (1)

1 Dickie, A., Streck, C., Roe, S., Zurek, M., Haupt, F., Dolginow, A. 2014. “Strategies for Mitigating Climate Change in Agriculture: Recommendations for Philanthropy.” Climate Focus and California Environmental Associates, prepared with the support of the Climate and Land Use Alliance. agriculturalmitigation.org

2 Fredrik Hedenus & Stefan Wirsenius & Daniel J. A. Johansson. "The importance of reduced meat and dairy consumptionfor meeting stringent climate change targets." Climatic Change (2014) 124:79–91. Published online: 28 March 2014