Questioning key conclusions of FAO publications ‘Livestock's Long Shadow’ (2006) appearing again in ‘Tackling Climate Change Through Livestock’ (2013)

Abstract

The accusation by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) that domestic animals contribute 18% (Livestock's Long Shadow) or 14.5% (Tackling Climate Change Through Livestock), respectively, to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions) caused considerable damage to the reputation of animal husbandry in general, and in particular to the grassland-based production systems. This rebuttal highlights the following: – The publications mentioned ignore the uncertainties associated with the climate sensitivity of GHGs. – Baseline scenarios over time and space for livestock-borne methane and nitrous oxide emissions are elided. – There are deficits in the methodological treatment of emissions deriving from land use change (deforestation). – It is not acknowledged that there is virtually no livestock signal discernible in global methane distribution and historical methane emission rates. – The loss of energy through methane emissions by enteric fermentation in ruminants is considered as damaging to production. However, livestock-borne methane might be the price to be ‘paid’ for the effective transformation of high-fibre diets from crop residues and vast areas of grass- and rangelands marginal to agriculture into valuable food for humans (meat and milk). Consequently, the mentioned publications highly overstate livestock contribution to climate change in its extent and impact.