World leaders failed to address the significant climate impact of animal agriculture during recent G7 and Bonn climate conferences, despite growing evidence of its environmental harm.
The G7 summit and Bonn Climate Change Conference focused on financial debates, omitting discussions on the climate impact of animal agriculture.
Animal agriculture contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, yet international talks rarely address it directly.
The new Apulia Food Systems Initiative aims to aid poorer nations' agricultural adaptation but does not address livestock emissions.
Key quote:
“We’re seeing, essentially, the cow in the room being ignored.”
— Stephanie Feldstein, population and sustainability director at the Center for Biological Diversity
Why this matters:
Animal agriculture is a major driver of climate change, responsible for significant methane emissions and environmental degradation. Advocates say addressing this issue is crucial for achieving global climate goals and mitigating planetary warming.
Borrowing a page from the fossil fuel industry’s playbook, meat’s “merchants of doubt” are funding questionable research and lobbying to keep meat reduction off the table.
Only a third of factory farms have permits to discharge waste into water, soil, and air. A new legal effort from environmental groups seeks enforcement of the Clean Water Act.
Oral arguments begin next week in a case targeting California’s Proposition 12, a law that bans the sale of pigs raised in confinement. The ruling has implications for a wide range of other environmental and public health laws.
