animal farming is increasingly damaging the climate and biodiversity, according
to the ‘Meat
today by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and Friends of the Earth Europe.
livestock industry is responsible for up to 21% of global
greenhouse-gas emissions. This figure is likely to escalate if the global meat
and dairy consumption trends continue.
Atlas 2021 exposes that:
Meat production is
estimated to increase by 40 million tonnes by 2029, reaching 366 million tonnes
of meat per year. To keep up with this, industrial animal farming is on the
rise and keeps pushing sustainable models out of the market.
quarters of agricultural land is used to raise animals or the crops to
feed them. Livestock farming and soybean cultivation are the biggest
contributors to deforestation, whose effects include soaring emissions,
destruction of indigenous communities’ and small farmers’ livelihoods, and
The food sector
accounts for between 21% and 37% of global greenhouse-gas emissions. Emissions
from industrial animal farming account for around 57% of this.
Taken together, 20
livestock firms are responsible for more greenhouse-gas emissions than Germany,
Britain or France. The six of them that are headquartered in the European Union
have not disclosed the total emissions from their supply chains.
corporations dominate the market. They operate giant slaughterhouses with often
poor working conditions that sparked several COVID-19 mass outbreaks.
Between 2015 and 2020,
global meat and dairy companies received over 478 billion US dollars in backing
from 2,500 investment firms, banks, and pension funds, most of them based
in North America or Europe.
Becheva, Food and Agriculture Campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe said:
meat farming is fanning the flames of climate crisis and biodiversity collapse
while threatening the health of farmers, workers and consumers – the evidence
“The EU needs to curb this insatiable industry, but right now its leaders
are just eating out of Big Agribusiness’ hand. Europe must act to clamp down on
deforestation and human rights violations in supply chains, facilitate the
switch to more plant-based diets, and redirect billions of euros of subsidies
and finance to small sustainable farmers.”
Unmüßig, President of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung said:
a lot of good-will-talk between industry and policy makers at all levels, a
turnaround in meat production has not yet been initiated. The economic
interests of the meat industry, which is worth billions, and the refusal of
politicians to reform strategically and coherently are keeping us on a tortuous
path overstretching the ecological limits of the planet. The way things are, we
will need to reduce meat production by half.
the polls in this Meat Atlas 2021 show, the younger generations in Germany -but
also in other countries- share this critical assessment: they no longer accept
the meat industry’s business model. More than 70 percent of German young adults
are willing to pay more for meat if the production conditions change
fundamentally. But the most decisive result: a huge majority of over 80 percent
see politics in the duty to finally set binding conditions for a climate
friendly agriculture, better animal husbandry and a climate-friendly diet.”
of the Earth Europe and Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung demand more effective
support for sustainable small-scale livestock producers and decentralised meat
processing facilities that contribute to rural development. They say a
transition fund for workers in the meat industry to shift into more sustainable
jobs is indispensable.
organisations push for strong human rights due diligence legislation. A
proposal for a new European law is expected from the European Commission this
autumn. Laws should force companies, including financiers, to identify risks of
harms in their global value chains and to prevent, mitigate and remedy those
immediate action they demand is to stop all subsidies the CAP provides to
industrial animal farming. Instead, greater support should be given to fairer,
more climate- and nature-friendly farming.