Greenhouse gas mitigation potentials in the livestock sector
Review article, 2016

The livestock sector supports about 1.3 billion producers and retailers, and contributes 40-50% of agricultural GDP. We estimated that between 1995 and 2005, the livestock sector was responsible for greenhouse gas emissions of 5.6-7.5GtCO(2)e yr(-1). Livestock accounts for up to half of the technical mitigation potential of the agriculture, forestry and land-use sectors, through management options that sustainably intensify livestock production, promote carbon sequestration in rangelands and reduce emissions from manures, and through reductions in the demand for livestock products. The economic potential of these management alternatives is less than 10% of what is technically possible because of adoption constraints, costs and numerous trade-offs. The mitigation potential of reductions in livestock product consumption is large, but their economic potential is unknown at present. More research and investment are needed to increase the affordability and adoption of mitigation practices, to moderate consumption of livestock products where appropriate, and to avoid negative impacts on livelihoods, economic activities and the environment.

Author

M. Herrero

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

B. Henderson

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

P. Havlik

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

P. K. Thornton

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi

R. T. Conant

Colorado State University

P. Smith

University of Aberdeen

Stefan Wirsenius

Chalmers, Energy and Environment, Physical Resource Theory

A. N. Hristov

Pennsylvania State University

P. Gerber

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Wageningen University and Research

M. Gill

University of Aberdeen

K. Butterbach-Bahl

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)

International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi

H. Valin

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

T. Garnett

University of Oxford

E. Stehfest

PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency

Nature Climate Change

1758-678X (ISSN) 1758-6798 (eISSN)

Vol. 6 5 452-461

Subject Categories

Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences

DOI

10.1038/nclimate2925

More information

Latest update

7/1/2021 1