Today (May 5th), Compassion in World Farming submitted a petition to world leaders to introduce policies that will reduce the quantity of meat and dairy consumed in order to help drive down rising global temperatures.

Over 53, 000 people signed our petition urging leaders of the top meat-eating countries and regions to implement change and shrink their country’s consumption of meat and dairy products, in order to reduce greenhouse gasses (GHGs) emitted by the livestock sector. The petition has been sent to the leaders of America, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, the EU, the UK, South Korea, China, South Africa and Japan.

Livestock – the forgotten sector

86 billion animals are farmed each year, with the majority being kept in intensive systems. Yet, despite last year’s COP26 recognizing that drastic action is needed to avert a climate catastrophe, the fact that the livestock sector is responsible for 14.5% of global GHGs – more than all direct emissions from the transport sector – is still largely absent from the policy solutions for addressing this global problem. The important role that livestock play in the climate emergency is highlighted in our report – Breaking the Taboo: Why Diets Must Change to Tackle the Climate Emergency – which shows that, to avert a climate catastrophe, global meat and dairy consumption must be dramatically reduced.

Leaders must not bury their heads in the sand!

“Our global leaders cannot continue to bury their heads in the sand,” says Ben Williamson, Compassion in World Farming's US Executive Director. “Livestock emissions play a significant role in the current climate emergency, yet this has been virtually overlooked by world leaders.

“We must drastically reduce our total global meat and dairy consumption, so we’ve addressed our petition to leaders of top meat-consuming countries or regions. It’s critical these world leaders act to bring forward a meat and dairy reduction and support a shift to nature-friendly, higher welfare farming, as a matter of urgency.  

“Factory farming is significantly contributing to one of the biggest environmental challenges of our time and leaders of those countries where meat consumption is particularly high, must play their part to ensure we meet the Paris Agreement targets. We must turn up the heat on world leaders to keep the global temperature down!”

The science is clear

Read our report which sets out the scientific case for a dramatic global reduction in global meat consumption, before it’s too late.