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Another UN Report Called into Question

Focus on meat consumption is distracting from finding climate solution.

Compiled by staff

Published: Mar 24, 2010

An air quality expert is questioning the idea that livestock are responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions. That's a statistic often cited by those who support the movement to reduce meat consumption. But according to Frank Mitloehner, a University of California-Davis professor, the focus on meat consumption is distracting from finding real climate change solutions. Mitloehner told the American Chemical Society that smarter animal farming, not less farming, will equal less heat. He said producing less meat and milk will only mean more hunger in poorer countries.

Mitloehner says the focus should be on cutting use of oil and coal for electricity, heating and fuel. He said transportation creates an estimated 26% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. Raising cattle he says only accounts for about 3%.

So where did the 18% figure come from? A report issued by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in 2006 called Livestock's Long Shadow. Mitloehner says it's based on dodgy numbers. He says livestock emissions were calculated using everything from those resulting from growing feeds to other industrial processes involved in producing and delivering meat and dairy products.

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Tagged: farming, hunger, Food and Agriculture Organization, UN

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Another UN Report Called into Question

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