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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Is it a Case of 'Meat-versus-Planet'? Lessons for the Global South -Aravindhan Nagarajan

Is it a Case of 'Meat-versus-Planet'? Lessons for the Global South -Aravindhan Nagarajan

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published Published on Jul 9, 2021   modified Modified on Jul 9, 2021

-TheIndiaForum.in

Claims that the livestock sector is a high emitter of greenhouse gases have led to calls for moving towards plant-based diets. These prescriptions rest on flawed assumptions; they also ignore the nutritional needs of the working poor in the Global South.

The livestock sector has widely been reported to be a high emitter of Green House Gases (GHGs). International media outlets have — wrongly — claimed that ‘cows emit more than cars.’ An open letter published by scientists in the Lancet Planetary Health Journal has warned that “If the livestock sector were to continue with business as usual, this sector alone would account for 49% of the emissions budget for 1·5°C by 2030, requiring other sectors to reduce emissions beyond a realistic or planned level.” (Harwatt, et al 2020). 

Reducing the consumption of meat and dairy is now seen as an important action to achieve climate mitigation. At the same time, these products are an important source of nutrition and protein for the world. More importantly, food supply from livestock acts as a safeguard against hunger and nutritional poverty in the developing world, as well as a source of income for millions of small farmers. As the crudely framed meat-versus-planet debate takes root in India, it is pertinent to examine the lessons from this debate for the Global South.

A sleight of hand

How did the narrative that cows emit more than cars come about? The answer lies in a statistical sleight of hand used to improperly make comparisons across the two sectors.

The livestock sector got the label of being a climate polluter from the Food and Agricultural Organisation’s (FAO) 2006 special report Livestock’s Long Shadow. The first global study to estimate GHG emissions in the livestock sector, the report estimated livestock emissions at 7.1 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) or 18% of annual global GHG emissions. This figure appeared to top that of emissions from the global transportation sector (6.9 GtCO2e or 14% of annual GHG emissions). Over the next decade and a half, several other reports estimated livestock’s contribution between 14% and 14.5% of annual GHG emissions (Steinfeld et al, 2006; Mbow et al, 2017).

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TheIndiaForum.in, 9 July, 2021, https://www.theindiaforum.in/article/meat-versus-planet


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