Livestock’s Long Shadow, Environmental Issues And Options
A multinational study (sponsored by the United Nations) identifying farmed animals (“livestock”) as a major threat to the environment, generating more greenhouse gas emissions than the transportation industry. This report seeks to assess the total impact of the farmed animal sector on the environment, and also examines technical and policy methods of mitigation.
Report Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction
- Livestock as a major player in environmental issues
- The setting: factors shaping the livestock sector
- Trends within the livestock sector
Chapter 2: Livestock in Geographic Transition
- Trends in livestock related land use
- Geography of demand
- Geography of livestock resources
- Production systems: location economics at play
- Hotspots of land degradation
- Conclusion
Chapter 3: Livestock’s Role in Climate Change and Air Pollution
- Issues and trends
- Livestock in the carbon cycle
- Livestock in the nitrogen cycle
- Summary of livestock’s impact
- Mitigation options
Chapter 4: Livestock’s Role in Water Depletion and Pollution
- Issues and trends
- Water use
- Water pollution
- Livestock land use impacts on the water cycle
- Summary of the impact of livestock on water
- Mitigation options
Chapter 5: Livestock’s Impact on Biodiversity
- Issues and trends
- Dimensions of biodiversity
- Livestock’s role in biodiversity loss
- Summary of livestock’s impact on biodiversity
- Mitigation options for conservation of biodiversity
Chapter 6: Policy Challenges and Options
- Towards a conducive policy framework
- Policies options for addressing environmental pressure points
Chapter 7: Summaries and Conclusions
- Livestock and environment in context
- What needs to be done?
- The challenge ahead
The global livestock sector is growing faster than any other agricultural sector, comprising about 40% of global agricultural output. It produces 9% of CO2 output from human-related activities, but generates 65% of human-related nitrous oxide, which has 296 times the Global Warming Potential of CO2 (GWP). In addition, it accounts for 37% of human-induced methane, which has a GWP of 23. Livestock uses 30% of global land surface and 33% of arable land to produce feed for livestock.
Meat and dairy animals account for 20% of terrestrial animal biomass, and their presence and utilization of land for feed resources contributes largely to biodiversity loss. 15 out of 25 ecosystem serviced appear to be in decline, resulting from livestock issues.
According to the official FAO press release, the report recommends remedies to the global livestock situation, including the following (excerpted from the press release):
Land degradation: controlling access and removing obstacles to mobility on common pastures. Use of soil conservation methods and silvopastoralism, together with controlled livestock exclusion from sensitive areas; payment schemes for environmental services in livestock-based land use to help reduce and reverse land degradation. Atmosphere and climate: increasing the efficiency of livestock production and feed crop agriculture. Improving animals’ diets to reduce enteric fermentation and consequent methane emissions, and setting up biogas plant initiatives to recycle manure. Water: improving the efficiency of irrigation systems. Introducing full-cost pricing for water together with taxes to discourage large-scale livestock concentration close to cities.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.htm