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World meat production must reach its peak in 2030 if it wants to meet the objectives to combat climate change

2019-12-12T18:29:03.157Z


The scientists asked governments to identify the largest sources of emissions or land occupants in the livestock sector and set reduction targets to help combat the…


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(CNN) - The world needs to achieve something that scientists have called a “maximum meat” in the next 10 years to combat the effects of climate change, a group of experts warned.

In a letter to The Lancet Planetary Health Journal, they said that all but the poorest countries needed to establish a time frame for livestock production to stop growing, since the meat and dairy sector is responsible for a very large proportion of emissions.

The scientists asked governments to identify the largest sources of emissions or land occupants in the livestock sector and set reduction targets to help combat the risk of global temperatures rising beyond the “safe” limit of 1.5- 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.

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"The reduction we need means that a profound transformation is required in all sectors," Helen Harwatt, an environmental social scientist at Harvard Law School and lead author of the letter, told CNN. “To reduce to 1.5 C, we need to remove large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere.

"We are suggesting agricultural transitions to optimal systems, and that is a plant-based agriculture."

The letter, signed by 50 experts in the field, said that if the livestock sector continued with its current trajectory, it would represent almost half of the emissions target by 2030.

The scientists asked the agricultural sector to “diversify food production” by replacing animals with foods that have a low impact on the environment, such as legumes, grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.

The letter said that when grazing land is not required or is not suitable for horticulture or arable production, it should, when possible, be reused by restoring native vegetation such as the forest, which acts as a "carbon sink." A carbon sink is anything that absorbs more carbon than it releases, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

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Stuart Roberts, vice president of the National Farmers Union of England and Wales, told CNN in a statement: “Saying that reducing the number of livestock everywhere is the most efficient way to reduce emissions, creates a situation that differs significantly throughout the world, and can hinder countries that practice sustainable agricultural methods and have the ambition to do more. ”

"We also recognize the value of our carbon sinks and use our extensive grasslands to graze animals, which is very beneficial for the soil and helps retain carbon."

"Grazing cattle is the most sustainable way to use the land for food production that is not suitable for growing any other crop," he said. "By using our grasslands in this way, we can absorb carbon while converting inedible grass into a highly nutritious protein that our growing population can enjoy."

Harwatt said there were "several different reasons to focus on livestock," since the sector was a "critical point" for a possible change.

"It offers these really key opportunities to give us a better chance of achieving those goals, not only to reduce emissions, but also to reuse land animal farming occupations," he said. “Some are in deforested lands, and large areas of these lands will need to be reforested to help meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

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“The other problem with temperature and emissions is methane. Animal agriculture is the largest source of methane emissions. ”

Scientists agree that CO2 emissions should not exceed 420,000 million tons before the end of this century, and approximately 720 billion tons of CO2 should be removed from the atmosphere to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius .

The restoration of vegetation is considered the best large-scale option to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and prevent atmospheric warming, which could lead to the loss of coral reefs, ice sheets and life-sustaining ecosystems.

The letter says that the process of returning farmland areas to their natural state "must immediately begin to be effective within the timeframe required to reach zero net emissions by 2050."

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They warned that high and middle-income countries should not outsource livestock production to other countries, but reduce demand for livestock products to comply with the terms of the Paris climate change agreement.

Since the first evaluation report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 1990, the production of meat, milk and eggs increased from 758 million tons to 1,247 million tons in 2017, the scientists said, citing FAO data, and expected to increase further.

"Even if everything was done, it doesn't mean that other sectors don't need to change," Harwatt added. “Every industry needs to change deeply and quickly.

"We are beyond the point of being a niche agenda."

climate change

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2019-12-12

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