Livestock's long shadow - environmental issues and options

The in-depth assessment presented in this document of the various significant impacts of the world’s livestock sector on the environment is deliberately termed Livestock’s long shadow so as to help raise the attention of both the technical and the general public to the very substantial contribution of animal agriculture to climate change and air pollution, to land, soil and water degradation and to the reduction of biodiversity.

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Rearing cattle produces more greenhouse gases than driving cars, UN report warns

Cattle-rearing generates more global warming greenhouse gases, as measured in CO2 equivalent, than transportation, and smarter production methods, including improved animal diets to reduce enteric fermentation and consequent methane emissions, are urgently needed, according to a new United Nations report released today.

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Meat accounts for nearly 60% of all greenhouse gases from food production, study finds

Production of meat worldwide causes twice the pollution of production of plant-based foods, a major new study has found.

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Global greenhouse gas emissions from animal-based foods are twice those of plant-based foods

Agriculture and land use are major sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but previous estimates were either highly aggregate or provided spatial details for subsectors obtained via different methodologies. Using a model–data integration approach that ensures full consistency between subsectors, we provide spatially explicit estimates of production- and consumption-based GHG emissions worldwide from plant- and animal-based human food in circa 2010.

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https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-021-00358-x.epdf?sharing_token=sPaaroCs4YPryAP70Wfm89RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0P5hJzOufiwVEu0osAOLG2L7YmizCBD0QPnXzpZvdgVd21n-7QUfEf8uD-CKplQ9EzQMgZq-Mk8gCxFhL5_3lA6QLRmiuR3JfQop7NDNDcmIX2Tf6kvCHKx9wCtDEQwjae18ZF2m2Imb5zUu0YbQZ2ddhQvdn68AUPkvzpZ3-Cp49YHGt5CTSqa8pYaDAJitkg%3D&tracking_referrer=www.theguardian.com

Tackling Climate Change thorugh Livestock

Climate change is transforming the planet’s ecosystems and threatening the well-being of current and future generations. To “hold the increase in global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius” and avoid “dangerous” climate change, 2 deep cuts in global emissions are urgently required. The global livestock sector contributes a significant share to anthropogenic GHG emissions, but it can also deliver a significant share of the necessary mitigation effort.

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How the agricultural lobby is sabotaging Europe's Green Deal

Agricultural lobby has already succeeded in keeping binding pesticide reduction goals at bay.

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Food Prices in Europe rising at 'rapid rate': Where are the most expensive countries to eat?

The price of food in Europe is rising at a ‘rapid rate’, according to the authors of a new survey identifying the most expensive places to buy groceries in the region.

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Losing our water to tourism

Tioman Island on the east coast of Malaysia first appeared on the world’s radar after its beaches were depicted in the 1958 movie South Pacific as ‘Bali Hai’. In the 1970s, the island was named by Time magazine as one of the world’s most beautiful islands. Since then, the island’s tourism industry has grown by leaps and bounds. Like many other small islands, the dwellers there have always faced a water shortage. However, with the expansion of its tourism industry, the situation has been amplified.

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Tourism and water scarcity: analysis and policy options

In the Mediterranean region, tourism is an important but under-researched consumer of water. This project aims to 1) estimate tourism’s share in current and future macro-level water scarcity in the Mediterranean, and 2) study and simulate water-related behaviour of tourism stakeholders at the micro-level. The project’s ultimate objective is to inform tourism decision-makers about the effectiveness of a variety of measures to reduce tourism’s water consumption.

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Water equity - Contrasting tourism water use with that of the local community

Tourism as an economic activity has grown substantially and is increasingly adding to local and seasonal pressures on water supply systems of tourist destinations around the world. Based on data from the AQUASTAT and EarthCheck tourist accommodation databases, this research analysed tourism-related water use in 21 countries and compared it with other municipal use.

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Arid land

Spain lacks rain. Intensive agriculture and tourism have brought the water supply to the brink of collapse. This is also causing trouble with Portugal.

Dürres Land

Spanien fehlt Regen. Intensive Landwirtschaft und Tourismus haben die Wasserversorgung an den Rand des Kollapses gebracht. Das sorgt auch für Ärger mit Portugal.

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How industries are affecting access to safe drinking water

An analysis considers the impacts of large-scale agriculture and industries on the human right to drinking water, advocating for the access to safe water for all

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The Human Right to Drinking Water: Impact of large-scale agriculture and industry

Access to safe drinking water is a human right. It is indispensable to a healthy, dignified and productive life. However, a significant proportion of the global population is not able to enjoy this human right. The purpose of this in-depth analysis is to consider the impacts of large-scale agricultural activity and industry on the progressive realisation of the human right to drinking water.

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A Deep Dive on the Water Crisis

The gap between the world’s renewable supply of water and demand is expected to be 40% by 2030, bringing a new urgency to addressing water scarcity. Morgan Stanley’s Sustainability Research Team looks at the causes, implications and solutions.

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The economic implications of global water scarcity

Water is vital to human existence — and a big concern for policymakers, business leaders, and economists is its heightened scarcity.

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17 Countries, Home to One-Quarter of the World's Population, Face Extremely High Water Stress

Water alarm: A quarter of the world's population faces acute water shortages, a new water risk atlas reveals. That's because they live in one of 17 countries that already deplete 80 percent of their groundwater and surface water without droughts or heat waves. These mainly include countries in the Middle East and North Africa, but also India, Pakistan and San Marino. But European Mediterranean countries are also under significant drought stress, the researchers report.

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Water scarcity in rivers: How can Europe use climate data to weather dry spells?

Europe's rivers - and thus also its water resources - are increasingly being strained by periods of drought. In view of this, the population and the economy must find new ways to adapt.

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Troubled waters - An understated risk

Water stress is a risk often overlooked by investors. We explain its causes, why the problem is likely to intensify in the decades ahead - and sketch out financial implications for portfolios.

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Water in Agriculture

Future demand on water by all sectors will require as much as 25 to 40% of water to be re-allocated from lower to higher productivity and employment activities, particularly in water stressed regions. In most cases, such reallocation is expected to come from agriculture due to its high share of water use. Currently, agriculture accounts (on average) for 70 percent of all freshwater withdrawals globally (and an even higher share of “consumptive water use” due to the evapotranspiration of crops).

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Water Crises Again Ranked a Top Global Risk in World Economic Forum Report

Degradation of the planet’s natural systems — its air, land, water, and living creatures — is the most worrisome threat to social and political stability in the next 10 years, according to the World Economic Forum’s annual survey of leaders in business, academia, government and civil society.

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Handful of agricultural businesses keep the Netherlands on lockdown

A small group of several dozen livestock farms in or around protected nature areas are causing a disproportionate amount of nitrogen on nature. These 'peak polluters' are responsible for hundreds of times more nitrogen precipitation than housing and road construction projects in the same region, which are still at a standstill because of the nitrogen load.

Handvol agrarische bedrijven houdt Nederland op slot

Een kleine groep van enkele tientallen veehouderijen op of rond beschermde natuurgebieden veroorzaakt onevenredig veel stikstof op de natuur. Deze ‘piekbelasters’ zijn verantwoordelijk voor honderden keren meer stikstofneerslag dan woning- en wegenbouwprojecten in dezelfde regio, die vanwege de stikstofbelasting nog steeds stil liggen.

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CAP vs Farm to Fork - Will we pay billions to destroy, or to support biodiversity, climate, and farmers?

The EU’s current model of agriculture directs billions in EU taxpayers’ money to fuel climate change, destroy biodiversity, and even undermine farmers’ livelihoods. While the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is approaching a key vote, freedom of information requests show that farmers and agribusiness lobby group Copa-Cogeca, along with pesticides and food industry giants, are doing their best to stop the CAP reform from aligning with the new Farm to Fork strategy of the Green Deal.

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A loud lobby for a silent spring The pesticide industry's toxic lobbying tactics against Farm to Fork

The evidence in this report shows that the EU Farm to Fork targets, a crucial element of the EU Green Deal, is under severe attack from industry.

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World's soils 'under great pressure', says UN pollution report

Soils provide 95% of all food but are damaged by industrial, farming, mining and urban pollution.

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The agony machine

On the way to death: Before they are slaughtered, a gas is supposed to anesthetize the pigs - actually, so they don't feel the pain and fear. But this anesthesia does not let the animals gently fall asleep, on the contrary. Secretly filmed footage from slaughterhouses shows the conditions under which pigs are forced to die in Germany.

Die Qualmaschine

Auf dem Weg in den Tod: Bevor sie geschlachtet werden, soll ein Gas die Schweine betäuben - eigentlich, damit sie den Schmerz und die Angst nicht spüren.

Behind Paywall

Significant increase in a new kind of case: now Danish Crown is under heavy accusations

A major new complaint is heading to the Consumer Ombudsman against Danish Crown for misleading consumers with the biggest nationwide campaign in the company's history: climate-controlled pork. Accusations of greenwashing accelerate, say experts.

Markant stigning i en ny slags sager: Nu er Danish Crown under kraftige anklager

Ny, stor klage er på vej til Forbrugerombudsmanden over Danish Crown for vildledning af forbrugerne med den landsdækkende og største kampagne i virksomhedens historie: klimakontrolleret gris. Anklager om greenwashing accelererer ifølge eksperter

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Asparagus: Undercover research shows low wages and lack of transparency at Thiermann

Net wages of six euros per hour, cash on the nail: Our undercover research suggests exploitation at asparagus king Thiermann. A labor lawyer sees "strong indications" that the company does not comply with the minimum wage. The company denies the allegations.

Spargel: Undercover-Recherche zeigt niedrige Löhne und Intransparenz bei Thiermann

Nettolöhne von sechs Euro pro Stunde, bar auf die Hand: Unsere Undercover-Recherchen legen Ausbeutung bei Spargelkönig Thiermann nahe. Ein Arbeitsrechtler sieht „starke Indizien“, dass der Betrieb den Mindestlohn nicht einhält. Dieser dementiert die Vorwürfe.

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Nestlé document says majority of its food portfolio is unhealthy

Internal company presentation acknowledges more than 60% of products do not meet ‘recognised definition of health’

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Behind Paywall

Amid farm talks: new figures show huge nitrogen rise in 2019

Excessive nitrogen was released into the aquatic environment in 2019, new figures show, and this should be included in the current negotiations on nitrogen requirements for agriculture, support parties say. But that would be unfair as it was "a 100-year event", says the Food & Farming organisation.

Midt i landbrugsforhandlinger: Nye tal viser kæmpe kvælstofstigning i 2019

Der blev udledt usædvanligt meget kvælstof i vandmiljøet i 2019, viser nye tal, og det bør indgå i de nuværende forhandlinger om kvælstofkrav til landbruget, mener støttepartier. Men det vil være usagligt, da der var tale om "en 100-års-hændelse", lyder det fra Landbrug & Fødevarer.

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Fewer, bigger, more intensive: EU vows to stem drastic loss of small farms

Guardian analysis shows intensification in farming across the EU with a rise in livestock numbers while millions of farms disappear

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Kristian Sloth: Agriculture is a miserable business for Danish society

To date, no one has managed to do the big maths, adding up the long list of agricultural damages that taxpayers are forced to pay for. I have tried to identify some of the enormous costs that agriculture imposes on Danish society. And I call for a team of researchers to set about completing this huge calculation.

Kristian Sloth: Landbruget er en elendig forretning for det danske samfund

Ingen har til dato formået at lave det store regnestykke, hvor der sættes tal på den alenlange liste af skadevirkninger fra landbruget, som skatteborgerne er tvunget til at betale for. Jeg har forsøgt at finde frem til dele af de kolossale udgifter, som landbruget pålægger det danske samfund. Og jeg efterlyser, at et hold af forskere sætter sig for at lave dette store regnestykke færdigt.

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