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Regenerative agriculture is not a sustainability solution [1]: Written by FCRN’s Dr Tara Garnett in collaboration with Cécile Godde of CSIRO and a team
by atweiden 5y ago
Regenerative agriculture is not a sustainability solution [1]:
Written by FCRN’s Dr Tara Garnett in collaboration with Cécile
Godde of CSIRO and a team of international experts, this report
dissects claims made by different stakeholders in the debate,
and evaluates them against the best available science. This report
finds that better management of grass-fed livestock do not hold a
solution to climate change as only under very specific conditions
can they help sequester carbon. This sequestering of carbon is even
then small, time-limited, reversible and substantially outweighed
by the greenhouse gas emissions these grazing animals generate. Dr
Garnett explains the key takeaways from this report:
“This report concludes that grass-fed livestock are not a
climate solution. Grazing livestock are net contributors to the
climate problem, as are all livestock. Rising animal production and
consumption, whatever the farming system and animal type, is causing
damaging greenhouse gas release and contributing to changes in land
use. Ultimately, if high consuming individuals and countries want
to do something positive for the climate, maintaining their current
consumption levels but simply switching to grass-fed beef is not a
solution. Eating less meat, of all types, is.”
[1]: https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/news/2017-news-grazed-and-confused/ https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/news/2017-news-grazed-and-...
- Jensson 5y agoHow can't it be a sustainable solution? Cows doesn't magically generate carbon out of nothing, it comes from the plants they eat. If you have a stable farmland area like Europe and keep raising and slaughtering cattle on it then the carbon footprint is net 0.
- desdiv 5y agoMethane has more than 10 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide. That means if the grazing plants capture 1 mol of carbon dioxide from the air, and then is consumed by cows who turn some of the carbon into methane, then the warming potential of the system has increased even though it's still carbon neutral.
- Jensson 5y agoMethane breaks down though, it only gets worse if we scale up production. Basically eating meat forever is equivalent to a year or so of other carbon pollutants. I'd rather we regulate other emissions a year or so early than ban all meat forever.