Meat and Climate

According to the UN, animal agriculture is responsible for 14-18% of global greenhouse gas emissions—more than all forms of transportation combined.

Sheep and cows emit large amounts of methane—a greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere—driving climate change.

Producing fertilizer for crops that feed animals, fueling trucks that transport them to slaughter, and powering the freezing of carcasses all require massive fossil fuel use, releasing huge amounts of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere.

Scientists agree that plant-based foods have a much smaller carbon footprint than animal products. The easiest way to slow climate change is to eat vegan.

Animal agriculture also has a shocking water footprint. The average meat eater is responsible for using 15,000 liters of water daily. Growing 1 kg of wheat takes about 1,790 liters of water, but producing 1 kg of beef requires over five times that amount—that's 50 bathtubs full of water for just one steak. Raising cows for milk uses 72% more water than producing soy milk.

Most pesticides, herbicides, and chemicals used on animal feed crops end up back in the environment through wastewater and animal waste, polluting soil and water worldwide. This causes soil degradation, harms human health and deep-sea life, creates ecological “dead zones” in oceans, and kills wildlife like fish, bees, and amphibians.

The UN acknowledges animal agriculture as a major contributor to water pollution. Runoff from meat, egg, and dairy farms contaminates rivers with feces, urine, pathogens like E. coli, antibiotics, and other drug residues.

Ammonia gas from Denmark’s cattle, chicken, and pig farms is a lethal air pollutant that threatens human health and can cause premature death.

Animal agriculture has the largest footprint on Earth’s land. It uses one-third of the planet’s land surface and is responsible for 30% of biodiversity loss. Agriculture is the most reported threat to wild animals and plants, and WWF identifies habitat loss as the top cause of species extinction.

Wild animals are running out of space, and species are disappearing at an alarming rate. Yet humanity continues to destroy some of the richest ecosystems on Earth—including South American rainforests—to let cows graze or grow soy for animal feed. A staggering 90% of the world’s soy crops go to cows, chickens, sheep, and pigs. Moving away from raising animals for food can halt deforestation, combat the climate crisis, and protect countless animals’ natural habitats.

Abusing nature has devastating consequences for human life. About the COVID-19 pandemic, leading biologist Professor Thomas Lovejoy said: "This pandemic is the consequence of our ongoing and excessive interference with nature and the massive illegal wildlife trade." Other scientists warn that deforestation, intensive farming, wildlife exploitation, and unchecked agricultural expansion create the "perfect storm" for disease outbreaks originating from animals.

Fishing fleets are decimating the oceans, leaving them empty, lifeless, and on the edge of ecological collapse. With an estimated 90% of fish stocks fully exploited, few fish will remain if this rate continues.

In a recent report, discarded fishing gear was called "the most harmful type of marine debris for animals." Also known as “ghost gear,” it maims and kills millions of marine animals every year.

Fish farms aren't sustainable either. Salmon farmers feed their fish three times their weight in wild fish. Farmed fish live in overcrowded, filthy pens and suffer from parasitic lice infections, diseases, and debilitating injuries. Conditions on some farms are so awful that up to 40% of the fish die before farmers can euthanize them.

The world faces a food shortage hitting the poorest hardest. Yet factory farmed animals are fed 760 million tons of grain annually so people can eat meat, dairy, and eggs. This is horrifyingly inefficient: up to 16 kg of grain may be needed to produce just 1 kg of meat. The world’s farmed cattle consume enough food to meet the calorie needs of 8.7 billion people—more than the entire world population. Using grain directly to feed people instead of passing it through farmed animals would provide more than enough food for everyone.