1. This week’s column is about something we badly want to believe, regardless of the evidence: that livestock farms are benign and harmonious. Why? Mostly, I think, because it chimes with books and cartoons we see as very young children. theguardian.com/commentisfree/… Also: a thread

China is the biggest producer & consumer of meat now & this one deal by President Lula may single-handedly shift the Amazon from a net sink to a net emitter of planet-warming emissions

They’ll spin this with an economic story & meat vouchers for the poor

scmp.com/news/world/ame…

The Food and Agriculture Organization omitted droves of evidence that plant-rich diet shifts can meaningfully reduce emissions & protect human health. Instead of a careful, methodical response to our comment led by Cleo Verkuijl, they've opted to to rant about 'vested interest narratives' desmog.com/2024/04/08/us-…

New: Lobbyists for the world’s biggest meat companies have celebrated the outcome of the COP28 climate summit in December, which they say left them “excited” and “enthusiastic” for their industry's prospects. 1/

desmog.com/2024/04/08/us-…

Should we accept that the coal, oil & gas industry just needs to get more efficient? Clearly no

But with the cultural shield of local eco animal farms, meat lobbyists continue to win with efficiency tactics, escaping accountability of any reduction goal

desmog.com/2024/04/08/us-…

Framers in the EU oppose #NatureRestorationLaw and #CAP environmental requirements on the grounds of food security, but this is what Europe mostly growths, supported by public funds

The elephant in the room when it comes to destruction of the nature we all depend on.

YOU, the taxpayer, are directly funding it.

Agricultural subsidies are the largest item in the EU budget. You'd hope much of that money was going towards sustainable food systems. Unfortunately we find that over 80% goes to emission-intensive animals in our new Nature Food study. theguardian.com/environment/20…🧵

82% of the EU’s farm subsidies go to animal-based foods that make up 84% of EU’s food-related GHGs yet supply just 35% of their calories.

This makes animal-rich foods artificially cheap & externalized impacts to taxpayers.

nature.com/articles/s4301…
drive.google.com/file/d/11gq41x…

Alfalfa & other cattle-feed crops use 46% of water diverted from the Colorado, 3x all cities that depend on the river combined. Researcher Brian Richter (who gave up beef when he saw the data) says it’s a chance to shift what we grow to protect the river. knau.org/knau-and-arizo…

If you want to address climate change, stop biodiversity loss, preserve our critical natural resources, and have a sustainable future -- then we must fix the world's food system.

drawdown.org/news/insights/…

When should global livestock emissions peak and what's the most effective way to reduce them? Helen Harwatt (and her coauthors) posed these questions (and more) to 210 climate scientists & I wrote up the findings (w/charts!). It's much sooner than you'd think. vox.com/future-perfect…

To folks claiming we don't need to worry about methane emissions from cows & cattle because there were once bison, read this summary.

Bottom line: cattle & cows release *far* more methane than buffalo did.

mrdrscienceteacher.wordpress.com/2019/09/21/bis…

Great quick explainer on the main proposed climate mitigation plans for the beef industry in perspective to the wider benefits* of a shift away from the most damaging industry to planetary health.

*not even incl. land, water, runoff, etc.

sentientmedia.org/climate-friend… Björn Jóhann

Our comment in Nature Food was picked up by the Guardian. Food and Agriculture Organization's 1.5 °C roadmap lacks methods/data & omits findings that plant-rich diets in richer countries are needed to reach climate targets. Their response to our critique is even more perplexing 🧵 theguardian.com/environment/20…

Sadhbh O' Neill - 🍉End genocide now I go further: GWP* is not a GW metric because fails to capture the warming effect of on-going emissions. It is a modelling tool for the changing warming caused by changing methane emissions. Some scientists have not done enough to counter its misuse for greenwashing.

1/3 When major climate and methane polluter, #JBS fails to submit a credible plan for its 'ambitious' net zero target, gets removed from Science Based Targets initiative, but still claims to be working with other ‘credible’ third parties on its environmental goals 🤔
just-food.com/news/jbs-struc…

Our new report, out today, provides the first articulation of a Paris-compliant livestock sector. The findings provide much needed clarity on a key question – what role should the livestock play in meeting the Paris Agreement? Matthew Hayek Paul Behrens Dr. William J. Ripple

Major global meat producer, #JBS , gets their 'commitment removed' from climate target setting initiative. This move sparks questions for the company's environmental goals just-food.com/news/jbs-struc…

I gave a talk to an EXCEPTIONALLY bright group of students at Cambridge. We should all be grateful for people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, because they are the ones who will.
youtu.be/czGy8ncNuSQ