The burger you ordered for lunch might be a bigger issue for the environment than you could possibly imagine. According to recent reports, 20 large meat and dairy firms each emit more greenhouse gas than Germany, Britain, or France. Such companies release 14.5% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.
Livestock emits greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. Cattle produce methane as a byproduct of the consumption of grass and other food that they feed on. Methane is 22 times more impactful as a climate-changing gas than CO2. Each of the world’s 1.2 billion cows releases 100 kilograms of methane every year.
In the last 5 years, these immense meat manufacturing firms have received 478 billion dollars from 2,500 investment companies, pension funds, and banks. Because of the large amount of financial support, it is estimated that meat production will increase by up to 366m tonnes per year.
Three-quarters of the agricultural land is used to raise animals or crops to feed them. Around 80% of the world's soybean crop is used to feed livestock, for meat and dairy production. This mass production of soybeans threatens biodiversity and deforestation.
The consequences of such production practices bring into question our consumption, for a drastic need would be needed to avert a future climate catastrophe.
Bibliography
Kevany, S. (2021, September 7)
20 meat and dairy firms emit more greenhouse gas than Germany, Britain or France. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/07/20-meat-and-dairy-firms-emit-more-greenhouse-gas-than-germany-britain-or-france
Waugh, R. (2021, September 7) 20 large meat and dairy companies emit more greenhouse gases than Britain or Germany. Yahoo! News. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/meat-firms-more-greenhouse-gas-britain-133629541.html?guccounter
WION Web Team (2021, September 8) 20 dairy, meat firms emit more greenhouse gas than France, Britain or Germany: Report. WION. https://www.wionews.com/world/20-dairy-meat-firms-emit-more-greenhouse-gas-than-france-britain-or-germany-report-411458