Ever since the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization released a 2006 report that attributed 18% of the world’s man-made greenhouse-gas emissions to livestock — more, the report noted, than what’s produced by transportation — livestock has taken an increasingly hard rap. Read more … (Time Magazine) Continue reading
Category Archives: Climate Change
World veterinary agency to probe meat-climate link
The world’s top authority in farm animal health announced on Thursday it would launch a study into the role of meat in climate change. The report, carried out by independent experts, is expected to be published “by the summer,” Bernard Vallat, head of the World Organisation for Animal Health, known by its French acronym of … Continue reading
Cattle / Climate Change / Consumption / Environment / Europe / UK
McDonalds on hunt for climate-friendly beef
Fast-food chain McDonalds is on the hunt for new methods to produce a climate-friendly beef burger. The burger giant, which sources 350,000 cows from over 16,000 British and Irish farms every year, has launched a three-year study to cut methane emissions from its livestock. The study will take place on 350 farms across Britain and … Continue reading
Report says grasslands can help combat climate change
A new report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says grasslands have vast untapped potential to limit climate change by absorbing and storing carbon dioxide. The report says proper land use can also help one billion people who depend on livestock. The United Nations report says if pastures and rangelands are properly managed, … Continue reading
Burp-less sheep to help tackle climate change
Australian scientists are hoping to breed burp-less sheep in a bid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The agriculture sector is the nation’s second biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions behind the energy sector, producing about 16 per cent of Australia’s total emissions. Two-thirds of that figure is produced by livestock, and 66 per cent of … Continue reading
Livestock on the line and other cows’ stories
New International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) staff member Pier Paolo Ficarelli authored a short article in a recent issue of the magazine ‘Rural 21.’ He argues: Livestock is on the line, attacked by climatologists, environmentalists, dieticians, disease controllers, children’s feelings for animals and, last but not least, international development cooperation agencies. Now, as 12,000 years … Continue reading
Climate Change / Egypt / Environment / Ethiopia / NRM / Sudan / Uganda / Water / WLE
How climate change is shrinking the river Nile
The water level of the river Nile – crucial to the economy in many parts of Uganda, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia – is dropping. Film-maker Andrew Johnstone follows the course of the Nile to discover how climate change is already affecting the river’s farming communities. View the video … (The Guardian) Continue reading
The livestock challenge
A recent issue of the magazine ‘Rural 21’ is dedicated to livestock and development. Articles include: The livestock challenge Livestock and the MDGs (ILRI paper) Making livestock policy pro-poor Livestock and climate change (ILRI paper) One World, One Health? The role of livestock in African agriculture Continue reading
Why farms may be the new forests
For people who see stopping deforestation as the quickest climate-change win, Copenhagen seemed a success. Although there is still work to be done on the initiative known as REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), the deal struck in Copenhagen made it into a real thing, not just an idea. The notion of reducing … Continue reading
Carbon Cows: Climate change, science and the future of Australia’s livestock industry
They may look innocent, but Australia’s cows and sheep are together one of the largest contributors to our country’s overall carbon emissions. Australian scientists and farmers are currently collaborating in the hope of implementing strategies that will make the livestock industry more sustainable. With the support of a $26.8 million dollar research grant from the … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 