Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Livestock

Overview

Livestock plays an important role in climate change. Livestock systems, including energy use and land-use change along the supply chain, accounted for an estimated 14.5% of total global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities in 2010. More than half of these (about 65%) are related to cattle. Direct emissions from livestock and feed production constitute some 80% of total agriculture emissions, and thus need to be part of any effort to reduce the contribution of food production to global climate change.