From September 22-29, Climate Week NYC is bringing together people from many walks of life in order to “drive the transition, speed up progress, and champion change that is already happening” with regards to climate action.

At FOUR PAWS, we shed a light on the connection between climate change and animal welfare and advocate for a transformation of animal agriculture in order to help mitigate the effects of climate change.

Globally, the livestock industry generates 16.5% of our total global greenhouse gas emissions. It is the second-highest source of emissions and amounts to more than the entire transport sector - all of the world’s cars, trucks, ships and airplanes combined¹.

On top of that, animal agriculture is the leading contributor to biodiversity loss, acid rain, coral reef degeneration, deforestation and water pollution.

When land is used to raise animals instead of crops, precious water and soil are lost, trees are cut down to clear the land for feed production and factory farms and untreated animal waste pollutes rivers and streams.

The world’s cattle alone consume more food than the caloric needs of the entire human population on Earth² — a massive waste of energy. To save the climate, we have to reduce our consumption of meat and finally end factory farming.

 Animals such as cows, sheep and goats are herbivorous animals that graze, known as ruminants. Ruminants emit a very powerful greenhouse gas called methane (CH₄ ) through a process called ‘enteric fermentation’ which occurs in their stomachs and intestines when digesting feed.

Ruminants are responsible for 89% of the total CH₄ emissions of animal agriculture, while animals like chickens and pigs contribute only 11%. Among ruminants, cattle contribute to the majority of methane production at 69% of the total.⁴

Also, the feed production itself is quite climate-harming. Almost half of farm animal-related emissions are caused by the production and processing of animal feed such as grass and feed crops.¹ Feed production and grazing pastures alone take up 77% of the world’s agricultural land.²

As an animal welfare organization, we are alarmed about the unfolding climate crisis. Therefore, we have various campaigns and projects exposing the harmful practices of the meat and dairy industry that exploits billions of animals, people and our planet and demands a food systems transformation.

In our Meat Exhaustion day report, we looked at the meat consumption per country. We calculated when a country would exceed its 'sustainable' meat consumption, as defined by the Planetary Health Diet. This is a reference diet of the renowned scientific EAT-Lancet Committee, which looks into the environmental and health impacts of food. the environmental and health impacts of food.

Our policy experts also make sure to give a voice to the animals in political settings like the UN Climate Conferences or the European Parliament. We also frequently attend climate strikes and protests related to animal agriculture in countries all around the globe.

In addition to using climate-friendly forms of transportation and energy, a very effective way to lower your personal carbon footprint is through your diet. The consumption of cheap meat and dairy supports the dysfunctional factory farming industry that causes immense animal suffering and is a key contributor to climate change.