Giving Compass' Take:

• Saiqa Perveen and Harpinder Sandhu at Food Tank discuss the role of livestock and livestock emissions in addressing climate change.

• Can a framework help turn livestock into a solution for climate change? Are we looking at the livestock industry's greenhouse gas emissions holistically? 

• Here's an article about livestock farms no longer reporting their air emissions. 

Livestock contributes to climate change through the emission of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, which are potent greenhouse gases (GHGs). They are the largest source of methane emissions, a gas that has 34 times higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide as stated by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. Growing demand for animal-based protein by increasing the human population is likely to further intensify GHG emissions from livestock, which can put more pressure on the global climate.

The recent climate summit in New York and the global momentum for reducing GHG emissions to curb climate change by governments and communities worldwide are pointing towards comprehensive climate action. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggests reducing emissions from agriculture and land-use change by changing diets and another report advocates for reducing reliance on fossil fuels. While there is a convincing case for reducing emissions by changing diets and by limiting supply-side fossil fuels, the livestock industry can play a major role in reducing global emissions. The role of livestock in addressing climate change so far has been overlooked.

Read the full article on fixing livestock emissions by Saiqa Perveen and Harpinder Sandhu at Food Tank.