Animal husbandry is responsible for the 12% of gas emissions greenhouse gas emissions from human activity and their effects on the climate will worsen unless action is taken as global demand for meat rises, according to a report by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

In order to reduce the sector’s emissions, FAO mainly suggests increasing productivity throughout the production chain, changing animal nutrition and improving animal health.

He also talks about reducing meat consumption in rich countries as a possibility, but this will have limited results.

FAO used 2015 as a reference year, when 810 million tonnes of milk, 78 million tonnes of eggs and 330 million tonnes of meat were produced, according to the report.

The process from the production of the feed consumed by the animals until it reaches the store caused the release of 6.2 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent, with the FAO estimating the production of methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide.

Cattle are responsible for most releases (62%), followed by pigs (14%), poultry (9%), buffalo (8%) and finally lambs and goats (7%).

When it comes to animal products, meat is the largest source of greenhouse gas production (67%), ahead of milk (30%) and eggs (3%).

Emissions directly related to animal husbandry make up 60% of the total.

Nutrition, health

Meat consumption is expected to rise with rising wealth and urbanisation, but concern about climate, animal health and welfare may slow growth, FAO notes.

But between the increase in the Earth’s population and the average demand for meat per capita, consumption of animal protein is expected to increase by 21% from 2020 to 2050, the organization estimates.

In order to respond to this trend without increasing the number of livestock, the FAO makes several recommendations for production and consumption.

The most effective measure to reduce the sector’s emissions, according to FAO, is to enhance production throughout the chain, for example using various techniques to increase milk production from cows or reducing the slaughter age of animals.

The nutrition of the animals is also important, as is the improvement of their health which will lead to better productivity but also reduce mortality rates.

In addition, the FAO refers to the reduction of meat consumption, although it emphasizes that its effects will be limited, if, for example, meat is replaced by the consumption of vegetables from greenhouses or out-of-season fruits transported by airplanes