Low-Carbon Development of Livestock in China: Evolution, Predicaments and Paths Ahead

Abstract

Livestock production is an important source of carbon emissions, and the low-carbon transformation of the livestock sector is a critical path to achieving sustainable development of the global economy and society. China is one of the most important livestock-producing countries in the world, so it is necessary to study the evolution and predicaments of low-carbon development in the livestock sector and put forward a scientific and reasonable emission reduction path. Our study first describes the development process of the low-carbon livestock sector in China and calculates the carbon emissions of the livestock sector from 2000 to 2019. It is found that carbon emissions from China’s livestock sector show a trend of increasing and then decreasing continuously from 2000 to 2019, which has a great potential for emission reduction. Then the predicament of low-carbon development of the livestock sector in China is put forward. Finally, from the perspectives of the government, livestock farmers, enterprises, the public, and other social institutions, a multi-subject collaborative mechanism is constructed, and corresponding implementation paths are designed, to provide theoretical support and suggestions for accelerating the low-carbon transformation of the livestock sector in China.