Latest News

Australia's red-meat industry abandons 2030 carbon neutrality goal

A group representing the Australian livestock industry said Tuesday that it had given up its goal of making the sector, which is a major emitter and planet-warming methane by 2030, carbon neutral. However, reducing emissions will remain a top priority.

Meat & Livestock Australia released its long-term strategy on Tuesday, but the carbon neutral pledge was not included. Michael Crowley said that the target was unachievable.

He said, "We need to invest more time and money in order to achieve our goal."

Last week, Australia's Red Meat Advisory Council removed the 2030 climate neutrality goal from its strategic plan.

These decisions are similar to those taken by some companies and governments who have reduced their climate commitments over the past few years.

The original 2030 goal of the livestock industry was to reduce emissions, and offset any remaining ones by sequestering carbon in soil or plant material.

The industry has been working on innovative solutions to reduce methane emissions, including breeding animals that emit less, adding seaweed as a feed supplement that can inhibit the production of methane in the gut and improving soil carbon-capture techniques.

According to Australia's science agency CSIRO this is due to less clearing of land and a smaller herd, not a reduction in the amount of methane per animal.

Crowley stated that the research conducted over the past few years will mature into implementation, and the industry can still achieve 80-90% its carbon neutrality target by 2030.

He said, "We must drive adoption."

He said that the 2030 goal had spurred more than A$100,000,000 ($66,000,000) in sustainability investment and MLA (a livestock research and marketing organization), would continue to drive improvements in efficiency and reduce net emissions for each kilogram of meat produced.

According to the MLA, Australia is one of world's largest exporters of meat. It has 30 million cattle as well as more than 70 millions sheep.

These animals produce methane during digestion. It breaks down with time, but it is 80 times stronger than carbon dioxide in trapping heat for a period of 20 years.

(source: Reuters)