![]() ![]() Still, given projected population growth in the developing world, there will certainly be an opportunity for countries such as the United States to bring their sustainable livestock rearing practices to the table. In 2015, average annual per capita meat consumption in developed countries was 92 kilograms, compared to 24 kilograms in the Middle East and North Africa and 18 kilograms in Southeast Asia. ![]() But per capita meat consumption in these regions still lags that of developed countries. livestock have declined 11.3 percent since 1961, while production of livestock meat has more than doubled.ĭemand for meat is rising in developing and emerging economies, with the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia leading the way. According to the FAO’s statistical database, total direct greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. agriculture over the past 70 years have made livestock production more efficient and less greenhouse gas-intensive. Moreover, technological, genetic and management changes that have taken place in U.S. According to our research at the University of California, Davis, if the practice of Meatless Monday were to be adopted by all Americans, we’d see a reduction of only 0.5 percent. greenhouse gas emissions by only 2.6 percent. But according to one recent study, even if Americans eliminated all animal protein from their diets, they would reduce U.S. Many people continue to think avoiding meat as infrequently as once a week will make a significant difference to the climate. However, as Steinfeld has pointed out, direct emissions from transportation versus livestock can be compared and amount to 14 versus 5 percent, respectively. ![]() There is no comparable full life-cycle assessment for transportation. In its most recent assessment report, the FAO estimated that livestock produces 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. To this day, we struggle to “unring” the bell. Unfortunately, the agency’s initial claim that livestock was responsible for the lion’s share of world greenhouse gas emissions had already received wide coverage. To its credit, the FAO immediately owned up to its error. I pointed out this flaw during a speech to fellow scientists in San Francisco on March 22, 2010, which led to a flood of media coverage. Herrero et al, 2016, via Penn State University, CC BY-NC-SA Red bars represent the potential range for each practice. Researchers have identified multiple options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the livestock sector. As a result, the FAO’s comparison of greenhouse gas emissions from livestock to those from transportation was greatly distorted. Instead, they only considered the exhaust emitted by finished cars, trucks, trains and planes. However, when they looked at transportation’s carbon footprint, they ignored impacts on the climate from manufacturing vehicle materials and parts, assembling vehicles and maintaining roads, bridges and airports. This included emissions from fertilizer production, converting land from forests to pastures, growing feed, and direct emissions from animals (belching and manure) from birth to death. The problem was that FAO analysts used a comprehensive life-cycle assessment to study the climate impact of livestock, but a different method when they analyzed transportation.įor livestock, they considered every factor associated with producing meat. This latter claim was wrong, and has since been corrected by Henning Steinfeld, the report’s senior author. The agency drew a startling conclusion: Livestock was doing more to harm the climate than all modes of transportation combined. It stated that livestock produced a staggering 18 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Why the misconception? In 2006 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization published a study titled “ Livestock’s Long Shadow,” which received widespread international attention. That’s very different from claiming livestock represents as much or more than transportation. All of animal agriculture contributes less than half of this amount, representing 3.9 percent of total U.S. All of agriculture accounted for a total of 9 percent. GHG emissions in 2016 were electricity production (28 percent of total emissions), transportation (28 percent) and industry (22 percent). ![]() Environmental Protection Agency, the largest sources of U.S. ![]()
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