Analysis: Industrial Animal Ag Incompatible With Global Climate Agreements

BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 22, 2024 — A new analysis by the Center for Biological Diversity and World Animal Protection found that a just transition away from industrial animal agriculture is a critical part of achieving global climate agreements.

The analysis looked at the Paris Agreement, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Methane Pledge and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It found that across nearly every goal and target, industrial animal agriculture is incompatible with global agreements to address the climate emergency, sustainable development and the biodiversity crisis.

“Industrial animal agriculture keeps climate stability, global health, and a resilient future out of our reach,” said Stephanie Feldstein, population and sustainability director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The global food system should nourish and sustain us, not drive us toward climate catastrophe.”

Industrial animal production, including industrial fishing and aquaculture, is a leading driver of climate change, habitat loss, water pollution, and pesticide use, in addition to being one of the largest sources of animal suffering globally. Food systems are highly vulnerable to climate change and contribute about one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, and pollution from industrial agriculture harms the most vulnerable communities.

This analysis comes as the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 29, wraps up in Baku, Azerbaijan, with no concrete outcomes to mitigate the impact or adapt our food systems to climate change. This analysis will provide much needed guidance to countries to integrate concrete food systems action into their updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), due in February 2025.

“If we want to meet the targets of the Paris agreement, we urgently need to transform both the agriculture and energy sectors, said Elodie Guillon, head of civil society engagement at World Animal Protection. “The industrial animal agriculture sector is based on petrochemicals to make pesticides and fertilizers for animal feed production, ensuring the increasing dependance of agriculture and food systems on high carbon energy in the future. One transformation cannot be tackled without the other, they are deeply connected.”

The analysis is an addendum to a white-paper roadmap released by a global movement of organizations dedicated to ensuring a just transition away from industrial animal agriculture toward equitable, humane and sustainable food systems that put biodiversity, animals and communities at its heart. The roadmap includes more than 100 policy recommendations to reduce food and agriculture emissions, harm, and inequity.


The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

World Animal Protection is the global voice for animal welfare, with more than 70 years’ experience campaigning for a world where animals live free from cruelty and suffering.  Our work to protect animals will play a vital role in solving the climate emergency, the public health crisis, and the devastation of natural habitats. 


https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/analysis-industrial-animal-ag-incompatible-with-global-climate-agreements-2024-11-22/