Livestock Don’t Contribute 14.5% of… | The Breakthrough Institute
In 2013, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimated that livestock production accounted for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Though the analysis was based on data from 2004 and 2005—over 15 years ago—it remains the most widely cited estimate of livestock’s global carbon footprint and is often deployed with an air of certainty. For example, even in 2023, a CNN article made waves by noting that “livestock farming accounts for 14.5% of human-caused, planet-warming emissions.” More recent data and science indicate that livestock may contribute a wider range of emissions, potentially more, potentially less. For its part, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has released a new, lower estimate that livestock produce 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Peer-reviewed studies have put the figure higher, at up to 19.6% of emissions. Whether livestock’s true carbon footprint is on the lower or upper end of this range, reducing livestoc