BLOOMBERG • October 20, 2023
Livestock farming contributes roughly 18% of global greenhouse-gas emissions, in the form of carbon dioxide, methane from cow burps and nitrous oxide from fertilizer. Not to mention the associated deforestation, pollution and biodiversity loss. Even if every other source of warming gases vanished overnight, food production would still generate more than enough to push the planet well past 1.5C of heating above pre-industrial averages. Meat and dairy farming contribute the bulk of those emissions. To meet the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C, meat prices should be 20% to 60% higher globally to account for all the environmental damage it does. A simple first step could be to stop paying farms to produce more meat. This amounts to an indirect gift of $402.5 billion to $642 billion per year. Governments need to find a way to redirect that largesse to healthier, less carbon-intensive food. ~ Mark Gongloff