Livestock industry welcomes FAO lifecycle analysis appointment
01/11/2012
The Rome-based organisation announced the appointment in October. Industry figures have reacted positively because they remember that a team led by Professor Mitloehner from the University of California, Davis, uncovered fundamental flaws in a 2006 FAO report entitled “Livestock’s Long Shadow”, in which the industry received a disproportionate amount of blame for greenhouse gas emissions. The authors of that report claimed incorrectly that the lifecycle of livestock produced 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions, more than all forms of transportation combined.
Professor Mitloehner and his researched team proved in 2009 that this analysis was flawed in a paper entitled “Clearing the Air: Livestock’s Contributions to Climate Change”. He concluded that, in the US, rearing livestock contributes 3.4% of greenhouse gas emissions, while transportation’s share of the total is 26%. The FAO later admitted that its 2006 report was wrong, but it’s not uncommon to see the 18% figure for livestock repeated, even today.
Commenting on this on taking up his new position, the professor said: “Transportation choices continue to be the main contribution to climate change and not, as is often depicted, food choices.”
He will head a committee that will include representatives of government, of the livestock industry, of other food sectors and of a number of campaign groups. The group’s work will be a step towards improving the sustainability of the livestock sector as the global consumption of meat, dairy products and eggs continues to rise.
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