Animal Agriculture
If everyone shifted to a plant-based diet, people and planet would be healthier, emissions would drop, and we’d reduce global land use for agriculture by 75%. That land could be rewilded and act as a much needed carbon sinks.
Animal agriculture produces 65% of the world's nitrous oxide emissions. Nitrous oxide has a global warming impact 296 times greater than carbon dioxide.
Raising livestock generates around 15% of total global greenhouse emissions.
Beef production is responsible for 41% of deforestation (palm oil and soybeans account for another 18%, and logging another 13%).
Animal agriculture is responsible for 70% of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest
Animal agriculture is responsible for 20 to 33 percent of all fresh water consumption in the world
Livestock takes up nearly 80% of global agricultural land, yet produces less than 20% of the world's supply of calories
26% of the Earth's ice-free land is used for livestock grazing
One-third of the planet's arable (farmable) land is occupied by crops for livestock feed
Read a roundup of the headlines:
“As cities grow and incomes rise around the world, more and more people are leaving gardens and traditional diets behind and eating refined sugars, refined fats, oils and resource- and land-intense agricultural products like beef. This global dietary transition is harming the health of both people and the planet, says new research.
But the study also shows that shifting away from this trajectory and choosing healthier traditional Mediterranean, pescatarian or vegetarian diets could not only boost human lifespans and quality of life, but also slash emissions and save habitat for endangered species.
And we better hurry; the scientists project that if the trend continues, the situation will be worse yet with greenhouse gas emissions up by 80 percent by 2050.”
Our World, New Research Says Plant-based Diet Best for Planet and People
“Half of the world’s habitable land is used for agriculture, with most of this used to raise livestock for dairy and meat. Livestock are fed from two sources – lands on which the animals graze and land on which feeding crops, such as soy and cereals, are grown. How much would our agricultural land use decline if the world adopted a plant-based diet?
Research suggests that if everyone shifted to a plant-based diet we would reduce global land use for agriculture by 75%. This large reduction of agricultural land use would be possible thanks to a reduction in land used for grazing and a smaller need for land to grow crops. The research also shows that cutting out beef and dairy (by substituting chicken, eggs, fish or plant-based food) has a much larger impact than eliminating chicken or fish.”
Our World in Data, If the world adopted a plant-based diet we would reduce global agricultural land use from 4 to 1 billion hectares
“Food production accounts for one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and takes up half of the planet’s habitable surface.
A taste for meat has had a particular impact on land. The mass of animals raised for slaughter on Earth now outweighs wildlife by a factor of 15-to-1. For example, for every person on the planet, there are approximately three chickens.
Meat and dairy specifically accounts for around 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).
If the world is to meet its target of limiting global warming to “well below” 2C, some degree of diet shift will be necessary, scientists say. If it is to strive for the most optimistic target of keeping warming to 1.5C, changes to diet may be even more crucial.”
Carbon Brief, Interactive: What is the climate impact of eating meat and dairy?
“It’s largely accepted that clearing land for cattle accounts for 70% of Amazon deforestation, with the rate of rainforest cutting accelerating drastically since President Jair Bolsonaro took office at the start of 2019. Between August 2020 and July 2021, 13,235 square kilometers (5,110 square miles) were lost, the highest level since 2006. That devastation is likely to increase in 2022, undermining the Amazon’s vital carbon storage capacity.
Far less recognized outside financial circles is the key role international capital, particularly from the United States, plays in driving Amazonian destruction through its investments in Brazil’s beef sector.
In fact, foreign capital — in the form of shareholdings, loans and bond purchases — today outweighs Brazilian capital in JBS, Marfrig and Minerva, the country’s Big Three meatpackers. That assertion is based on evidence unearthed by Mongabay’s survey of Brazilian and U.S. stock exchanges, academic studies, company reports and court cases. These foreign investments have turned Brazil into the world’s second-largest beef producer and leading exporter.”
Mongabay, Foreign capital powers Brazil’s meatpackers and helps deforest the Amazon
“Scientific consensus shows that animal agriculture is responsible for 14.5-16.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions and causes significant environmental degradation, from biodiversity loss to deforestation. Shifting to a plant-rich diet is one of the most effective climate-mitigation measures and provides multiple benefits from health and environmental perspectives.
Building a sustainable and resilient future for all requires comprehensive policy reform, financial incentives, and widespread collaboration among policymakers, financial institutions, businesses, communities and other stakeholders of the global food system. It is also critically important for each of us to take action where we can, since we are all in this together!”
Humane Society International, Animal Agriculture and Climate Change
“Many people don't know where their meat, eggs, or dairy come from, preferring to imagine a pleasant country scene with animals sunning themselves in grassy fields. But today’s industrial farming landscape looks much different, composed of loud, windowless sheds and cages that barely allow animals to move around at all.
WHAT IS FACTORY FARMING?
Factory farms, also known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), are a form of intensive animal agriculture. Virtually all animal products in the United States are produced on factory farms, and while it originated in the US, factory farming is becoming increasingly common around the world. Factory farming includes terrestrial farms involving animals such as pigs, cows, chickens, and sheep. Aquaculture—in which large numbers of salmon and other fish are farmed for food—is considered another form of factory farming.
IS FACTORY FARMING CRUEL?
Factory farming operations are designed to produce large volumes of yield for the smallest possible price. It's expensive to farm animals because animals require constant supplies of food, water, and shelter in order for them to grow large enough to be slaughtered, or to produce milk or eggs for human consumption. Factory farming is the result of techniques for keeping animals alive and producing at the lowest costs possible, using cost-saving measures such as smaller cages and extreme confinement.
The impacts on the lives of animals in factory farms are significant. Because farmed animals are legally considered to be the property of the corporations they “belong” to, animals are treated more like machines than the sensitive, emotional, and intelligent individuals they are. Animals bear the burden of the cost-saving measures on factory farms. Their lives are defined by an inability to engage in natural behaviors; being maimed and operated on without anesthetic; and/or being forcibly impregnated, only to have their offspring taken from them.”
The Humane League, HOW ARE FACTORY FARMS CRUEL TO ANIMALS?
Learn More