Track 2-08: Impacts on and Adaptation of Livestock Production Systems to Climate Change
Description
The famous FAO report “Livestock’s Long Shadow” (Steinfeld et. al. 2006) and hundreds of subsequent publications blamed domestic livestock, in general, and grassland-based production systems in the (sub) tropics, in particular, of causing serious environmental hazards such as climate change, claiming that 18% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are from livestock, more than from the transport sector. Few reviews challenged this claim, and those that did received little attention from the media. Pitseky et al. (2009) revealed the double standard applied by the FAO in this matter. Whereas for livestock products a full life cycle assessment for GHG emissions was applied, for the transport sector only fuel consumption was taken into account. This striking weakness of the FAO report alone considerably disburdens livestock husbandry.
Citation
Glatzle, Albrecht F., "Planet at Risk from Grazing Animals?" (2020). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 5.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/22/2-8/5
Included in
Planet at Risk from Grazing Animals?
The famous FAO report “Livestock’s Long Shadow” (Steinfeld et. al. 2006) and hundreds of subsequent publications blamed domestic livestock, in general, and grassland-based production systems in the (sub) tropics, in particular, of causing serious environmental hazards such as climate change, claiming that 18% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are from livestock, more than from the transport sector. Few reviews challenged this claim, and those that did received little attention from the media. Pitseky et al. (2009) revealed the double standard applied by the FAO in this matter. Whereas for livestock products a full life cycle assessment for GHG emissions was applied, for the transport sector only fuel consumption was taken into account. This striking weakness of the FAO report alone considerably disburdens livestock husbandry.
