Environment | Why Livestock Matter

Environment

Livestock systems vary greatly around the world and can enhance or harm the environment - depending on how they are managed.

How are livestock and the environment connected?

Context matters; properly tailored for specific communities and environments, livestock practices serve both.

Promote integrated agricultural solutions for optimal use of land and water resources

The land, feed and water requirements of livestock do not need to compete with the food needs of people.

Use livestock systems to manage land, water and biodiversity resources sustainably

Livestock can be managed to enhance rather than harm the environment.

About one-third of the world’s food supply is produced by small, mostly family-run farms.

These farms integrate livestock with crops in regenerative and circular agricultural systems.

Help small-scale livestock keepers adapt to, as well as mitigate, climate change

More sustainable livestock sectors present huge opportunities to help communities adapt to climate change while at the same time lowering their greenhouse gas emissions.

Enhance small-scale livestock systems to help mitigate climate change

Improving smallholder livestock productivity also reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

More on Environment

Investment opportunity Call for Livestock and Poultry SMEs in Kenya
News SPARC x ALE Dryland Financing Masterclass – 15 October 2024
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GMT +02:00
MH4, Kigali Convention Center Side event
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25 September 2024 15:30-18:30
GMT -05:00
Pritchett Conference Room, TIAA Building, 730 Third Avenue, 5th Floor, New York, NY Side event
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30 January 2024 14:00-16:00
GMT +03:00
Webinar
Webinar on Fostering Investments in Sustainable Livestock Solutions: An Exploration of the Kenyan Livestock Investor Landscape + Advice on Accessing Finance.
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News The intersection of animal welfare, climate change and One Health – 11 Dec
News How animal sourced food nourish the world in times of climate change – 5 Dec
News Delivering solutions to agriculture methane while supporting global nutrition – 10 Dec
News Fostering demand-driven and practical approaches to tracking the Global Goal on Adaptation– 11 Dec
News Creating a new livestock narrative for Africa: the role of resilience in livestock systems – 10 Dec
News From commitment to action: Integrating nutrition financing in the climate change framework – 9 Dec
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News Putting farmers first: How can we ensure the future of farming and food amidst the climate crisis? - 6 Dec
News Land, livestock and livelihoods: Early actions for adaptation and resilience-building from Africa’s drylands and rangelands – 6 Dec
News A farmer-driven agenda to advance climate action and food security through cooperation and innovation – 6 Dec
News Gender Transformative Approaches for Sustainable Livestock Development: An AIM4Climate COP28 Roadshow Event – 6 Dec
News Money Talks: What’s holding us back from harnessing climate finance to build resilient food systems? – 6 Dec
News The adaptation imperative: Addressing the needs of smallholder producers - 6 Dec
News The state of carbon payments and the voluntary carbon market in agriculture summary – 5 Dec
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Funding for Africa ‘urgently needed’ to absorb extreme climate shocks By Magnum Hermosa
Delicious Food
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Bezos Earth Fund
Open letter to World leaders and Parties to the Paris Agreement ahead of COP28
Ghana News Online
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10 December 2023 16:45-17:45
GMT +04:00
Food Systems Paviliion Side event
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08 December 2023 17:00-19:00
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Side event
Reception
11 December 2023 15:30-16:30
GMT +04:00
Food and Agriculture Pavilion, Blue Zone Side event
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11 December 2023 14:00-15:00
GMT +04:00
Senegal Pavilion Side event
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11 December 2023 11:00-12:30
GMT +04:00
CILSS Pavilion Side event
Adaptation strategies of Sahelian pastoralists and agro-pastoralists to climate change
10 December 2023 14:00-15:30
GMT +04:00
Parliamentary Pavilion, TA3-365 Thematic Arena 3, Blue Zone Side event
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10 December 2023 09:00-10:00
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Resilience Hub Side event
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09 December 2023 15:30-16:30
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IICA Pavilion Side event
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08 December 2023 16:00-18:00
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Ethiopian Pavilion, Blue Zone Side event
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10 December 2023 09:30-10:00
GMT +04:00
Ethiopian Pavilion, Blue Zone Side event
Climate Resilient Wheat Production: Moving from deficit to surplus
06 December 2023 09:00-10:30
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Food Systems Pavillion Side event
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06 December 2023 14:00-15:00
GMT +04:00
Side event
Money talks: What’s holding us back to better harness climate finance to build resilient food systems?
06 December 2023 12:30-13:30

Side event
Loss and damage: Providing a lifeline to smallholders with climate insurance - One Acre Fund
06 December 2023 10:30-12:00
GMT +04:00
Side event
The adaptation and livestock imperative: Addressing the needs of smallholder producers
06 December 2023 17:00-18:30
GMT +04:00
Side event
Dietary justice: Can we achieve climate and nutrition goals with animal agriculture?
09 December 2023 15:30-16:30
GMT +04:00

Investment in livestock system climate change adaptation measures as well as in climate mitigation
04 December 2023
GMT +04:00
UNCCD Land and Drought Pavilion
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01 December 2023 10:30-12:30
GMT +04:00
Food4Climate Pavillion Side event
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10 December 2023 15:15-16:00
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Food4Climate Pavillion Side event
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10 December 2023
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Climate in the Sahel: 50 years of observation
09 December 2023 18:30-19:30
GMT +04:00
IICA Pavillion Side event
The role of sustainable livestock management in restoring and improving rangelands
06 December 2023 11:30-13:00
GMT +04:00
SE Room 8 Side event
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05 December 2023 14:00-15:00
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CGIAR Food & Agriculture Pavilion Side event
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News COP27 daily livestock summary: 15 November
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News COP27 daily livestock summary: 11 November
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14 November 2022 11:30-13:00

Bridging climate policy gaps to access climate finance in the WAEMU region
12 November 2022 15:00-18:00
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Technical and financial solutions for the reduction of methane emissions
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News COP27 daily livestock summary: Finance Day on 9 November
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17 November 2022 14:30-15:45
GMT +02:00
Food4climate Pavilion
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14 November 2022 18:25-19:10
GMT +02:00
Food Pavillion at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt
A listening session: Achieving Ambitious Food System Transformation in the Context of USAID's New Climate Strategy
09 November 2022 15:30-17:00
GMT +02:00
IICA Pavilion (Blue Zone, Area C, Pavilion P120)
Panel: Sustainable livestock across regions and production systems
14 November 2022 13:00-14:00
GMT +02:00
CGIAR/FAO Food Systems Pavillion at Sharmel Sheik, Egypt
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15 November 2022 10:00-23:00
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12 November 2022 10:30-11:45
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IICA Pavilion (Blue Zone, Area C, Pavilion P120)
Panel: Sustainability impacts of co-products, by-products, and other ways animal agriculture reduces waste
11 November 2022 19:00-20:30
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IICA Pavilion (Blue Zone, Area C, Pavilion P120)
Networking reception: Protein PACT 'talktail'
10 November 2022 11:00-12:30
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IICA Pavilion (Blue Zone, Area C, Pavilion P120)
Panel: The unique role of nutrient-dense animal proteins for sustainable food security
16 November 2022 10:00-11:00
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Climate Justice Pavillion, COP27
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17 November 2022 17:00-17:30
GMT +02:00
IICA Pavillion, COP 27
A Nature Based Climate Solution: Cattle Raising Systems in Latin America
09 November 2022 15:30-16:30
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IICA Pavillion, COP 27
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12 November 2022 14:30-15:30
GMT +02:00
GCA Pavillion, COP27 Blue Zone
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08 November 2022 13:00-14:00
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COP 27 Sharmel Sheik Egypt
Harvesting data, Harvesting Food: Data Modeling, Forecasting and early warning for Food Security Policy
News 18 livestock investments to take One Health to scale and prevent new pandemics
18 November 2022 10:30-11:30

Africa Pavilion
Transition to Low-Emission and Resilient Livestock Agrifood Systems in Africa
11 November 2022 16:45-18:15
GMT +02:00
Thutmose (150), COP 27
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15 November 2022 10:00-23:00
GMT +02:00
WHO Health Pavilion, Sharmel Sheik, Egypt
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14 November 2022 18:00-19:00
GMT +02:00
Indigenous Peoples Pavilion, Sharmel Sheik, Egypt
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20 innovations that demonstrate opportunities for climate adaptation through livestock
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Pastoralism systems approach
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Methane emissions and per-animal productivity
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10 November 2022 13:00-14:00
GMT +02:00
Food & Ag Pavillion at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt
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12 November 2022 16:30-17:15
GMT +02:00
COP 27 Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt
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High-income countries can meet the 1.5°C target by 2030 and 2050, but low- and middle-income countries are unlikely to meet the 1.5°C target by 2030
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Globally we can help to meet the 1.5°C target by 2030, but not the target for 2050
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There are effective ways to reduce enteric methane emissions
Podcast
Changing climate, changing cattle farming - Part 2
Podcast
Changing climate, changing cattle farming - Part 1
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Drought insurance: Breaking the cycle of loss for millions of pastoralists
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Webinar
BSRS 2020: 'Climate Smart' Livestock Systems
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From cows to camels: Adapting to Africa’s drying climates
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Livestock, Climate and System Resilience: Meet the Initiative Lead, Polly Ericksen
Video
Why livestock greenhouse gas emissions matter in Africa
Video
Why livestock greenhouse gas emissions matter in Africa
11 November 2022 13:45-15:15
GMT +02:00
COP 27 Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt
The cow in the room: can sustainable livestock production deliver climate adaptation, mitigation and food security?
Biomass use, production, feed efficiencies, and greenhouse gas emissions from global livestock systems
Herrero, M., Havlík, P., Valin, H., Notenbaert, A., Rufino, M.C., Thornton, P.K., Blümmel, M., Weiss, F., Grace, D. and Obersteiner, M.
Reducing Enteric Methane for improving food security and livelihoods project
FAO
Conflict management, decentralization and agropastoralism in dryland West Africa
Turner, M.D., Ayantunde, A.A., Patterson, K.P. and Patterson, E.D
Greening Livestock: Assessing the potential of payment for environmental services in livestock inclusive agricultural production systems in developing countries
Silvestri, S., P. Osano, J. de Leeuw, M. Herrero, P. Ericksen, J. Kariuki, J. Njuki and A. Notenbaert.
Policy instruments for sustainable land management: the case of highland smallholders in Ethiopia
Shiferaw, B. and Holden, S.T.
Biodiversity conservation and agricultural sustainability: towards a new paradigm of “ecoagriculture” landscapes
Scherr, S.J. and McNeely, J.A.
Nitrogen cycling efficiencies through resource-poor African crop-livestock systems
Rufino, M.C., E.C. Rowe, R. J. Delve, K.E. Giller.
Strengthening natural resource governance in Garba Tula
Roba, G., Gibbons, S. and Mahad, Y.
Crop-livestock interactions in the West African Drylands
Powell, J.M., R.A. Pearson and P.H. Hiernaux.
Managing mobility: the legitimization of transhumance
Niamir-Fuller, N.
A high-resolution assessment on global nitrogen flows in cropland
Liu, J., You, L., Amini, M., Obersteiner, M., Herrero, M., Zehnder, A.J.B. and Yang, H.
Modern and Mobile: the future of livestock production in Africa’s drylands
IIED and SOS Sahel.
Crop-animal interactions in mixed farming systems in Asia
Devendra, C. and D. Thomas.
Improving governance of pastoral lands: implementing the voluntary guidelines on the responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests in the context of national food security
Davies, J., P. Herrera, J. Ruiz-Mirazo, J. Mohamed-Katere, I. Hannam and E. Nuesri.
Staying Maasai? Livelihoods, Conservation and Development in East African Rangelands
Editors: Homewood, Katherine, Kristjanson, Patti, Trench, P.
Risk and social change in an African Rural Economy: Livelihoods in Pastoralist Communities
McPeak, J.G. P.D. Little and C. R. Doss.
Adapting to climate change in the mixed crop and livestock farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa
Thornton, P.K. and Herrero, M.
Climate change through a gendered lens: examining livestock holder food security
McKune, S.L., E. C. Borrensen, A.G. Young, T.D. A. Ryley, S.L. Russo, A.D. Camara, M. Coleman and E.P. Ryan.
The governance of rangelands
Herrera, P.M., J Davies and P. Manzano Baena.
Tackling climate change through livestock
Gerber, P.J., Steinfeld, H., Henderson, B., Mottet, A., Opio, C., Dijkman, J., Falcucci, A. and Tempio, G.
Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in livestock production – a review of technical options for non-CO2 emissions
Hristov, A.N., Oh, J., Lee, C., Meinen, R., Montes, F., Ott, T., Firkins, J., Rotz, A., Dell, C., Adesogan, A., Yang, W., Tricario, J., Kebreab, E., Waghorn, G., Dijkstra, J., and Oosting, S.
Supporting low emissions development in the Ethiopian dairy cattle sector – reducing enteric methane for food security and livelihoods
FAO and New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre
Low emissions development of the beef cattle sector in Uruguay – reducing enteric methane for food security and livelihoods
FAO and New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre
Greenhouse gas mitigation potentials in the livestock sector
Herrero, M., B. Henderson, P. Havlik, PK Thornton, RT Conant, P. Smith, S. Wirsenius, A.N Hristov, P. Gerber, M. Gill, K. Butterbach-Bahl, H. Valin, T. Garnett and E. Stehfest.
Fact Check 5: Livestock and Climate Change
Salmon, G.
Livestock: On our plates or eating at our table? A new analysis of the feed/food debate.
Mottet, A., Haan, C. de., Falcucci, A., Tempio, G., Opio, C. and Gerber, P.
Livestock and the environment: what have we learned in the past decade?
Herrero, M., Wirsenius, S., Henderson, B., Rigolot, C., Thornton, P., Havlik, P., de Boer, I., and Gerber, P.
Investment opportunity Managing sustainable resources
Investment opportunity Competition for land and water
Investment opportunity Climate change mitigation
Investment opportunity Climate change adaptation