The issue of the livestock-climate connection has catalyzed a debate not only about whether and to what extent we should consume animal protein like meat and dairy, but what kind of system of livestock production is more sustainable from a greenhouse gas perspective if and when we do choose to continue consuming it. For the … Continue reading
Category Archives: Climate Change
Agriculture and Rural Development Day 2009 on 12 December
With a focus on “The road after Copenhagen: priority strategies and actions for ensuring food security and rural development in the face of climate change”, the event will bring together policy makers and negotiators, rural development practitioners, producers, civil society and the agricultural and climate change scientific community to highlight the importance of agriculture in … Continue reading
Climate Change / Dairying / Livestock / UK
Livestock hold key to Copenhagen
Livestock production is one of the major causes of the world’s most pressing environmental problem – global warming. The United Nations estimates that livestock are responsible for 18 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, a bigger share even than transport. Monday, (December 7), world leaders from 192 nations will join 15,000 people from across the world … Continue reading
Sir Paul to tell EU: ‘Less meat means less heat’
Sir Paul McCartney will this week throw his weight behind a growing campaign to address global warming by reducing the amount of meat we eat, lobbying EU politicians for their backing. The former Beatle will interrupt a European tour to fly to Brussels on Thursday, where he will make his case at a special hearing … Continue reading
Agriculture / Animal Health / Cattle / Climate Change / Europe / Livestock / Sheep / Small Ruminants / UK
UK report on health and climate change calls for livestock production cuts
According to the Cattlesite, a new report in the medical journal The Lancet has called for a 30 per cent reduction in livestock production to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet the UK emission targets for 2030. According to the Farmers Guardian, the UK Government has been slammed by critics over the report: “The controversy … Continue reading
Africa / Climate Change / Environment / Middle East / North Africa / Women
Climate change: Are women the solution?
It is often asserted that climate change will affect women the most in the developing world. That’s because most women will have to walk farther for drinking water, work harder to grow food, pull daughters out of school to help with family chores, and fuss more about family hygiene as the world – and particularly … Continue reading
Cattle / Climate Change / Environment / Livestock / USA
Climate reprieve for cattle
Beef cattle are not the climate-change bogeymen they’re made out to be, according to a new US study. University of California scientists say UN estimates that livestock generate 18 per cent of global greenhouse emissions could be six times too high. They say recent estimates by US environment and energy agencies, using more appropriate assumptions, … Continue reading
Livestock and climate change
Livestock and climate change: What if the key actors in climate change are…cows, pigs, and chickens? The environmental impact of the lifecycle and supply chain of animals raised for food has been vastly underestimated, and in fact accounts for at least half of all human-caused greenhouse gases (GHGs), according to Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang, … Continue reading
A world without roast beef: Who wants that?
Sir Paul McCartney arrived in Brussels yesterday to recruit support for his “meat-free Mondays” campaign. The argument seems so easy: cut down meat consumption and the planet will be saved. But even if a world without roast beef was one in which we all wanted to live (please count me out), we need to think … Continue reading
Canada / Cattle / Climate Change / East Africa / Environment / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Livestock / USA
Kenya to use satellites to fight climate change
Satellite-based insurance for livestock has been developed in Kenya to measure the country’s “greenness,” safeguarding herders against droughts and other effects of climate change. Slated to begin in early 2010, Kenya will be the first developing nation to set up a satellite insurance mechanism. Specialists will study satellite images measuring the greenness of vegetation in … Continue reading
ILRI Clippings 