SOCIAL MEDIA and dissemination KIT
Grazed and confused?
On 3rd October 2017,an international research collaboration is publishing a new report that sheds light on the impact that grass-fed animals have on climate change. The study adds clarity to the debate around livestock farming and meat and dairy consumption.
"Grazed and Confused? Ruminating on cattle, grazing systems, methane, nitrous oxide, the soil carbon sequestration question – and what it all means for greenhouse gas emissions" is written by Dr Tara Garnett of the Food Climate Research Network at the University of Oxford, Cécile Godde at Australia’s national science agency CSIRO and a team of international experts.
#GrazedandConfused @FCRNetwork
We would appreciate your support in helping us disseminate information about this report and its findings in your networks. We invite you to highlight the report in your newsletters and on social media by scheduling tweets and Facebook posts for the 3rd October or after.
Invite your colleagues and collaborators to join the #GrazedandConfused conversation todiscuss the climate impacts of grazing livestock and the need to address the growing consumption of meat and dairy in the climate conversation more broadly.The report and associated material can be found at
suggested Twitter posts
Use the sample tweets below or retweet some ofour tweets.
Launched today: #GrazedandConfused report by int. research collaboration on the climate impact of grazing livestock
#Grassfed #beef may have benefits- but saving us from #climate change isn't one of them. #Grazedandconfused report:
Grazing livestock are NOT the #climate solution some claim. @FCRNnetwork report #GrazedandConfused provides evidence
New report by @FCRNetwork and an international group of researchers & experts address claims about holistic grazing:
Facebook/LinkedIn
Grazed and confused? Is there such a thing as a climatically-guilt-free steak? Are grazing livestock climate villains or climate saviours? A new report by an international research collaboration led by the Food Climate Research Network (FCRN) provides an evidence-based and authoritative answer to these questions. The new report Grazed and confused? Ruminating on cattle, grazing systems, methane, nitrous oxide, the soil carbon sequestration question – and what it all means for greenhouse gas emissions, helps add clarity to the debate around livestock farming and meat and dairy consumption. It is now widely acknowledged that 14.5 % of all human made greenhouse gas emissions come from the livestock sector as a whole. There is however some confusion and disagreement in the debate about the climate impacts of grazing livestock (and particularly grass-fed beef). An increasingly vocalgroup of stakeholders has argued that well-managed grazing can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and sequester it in soils, and that these removals can substantially compensate for, or even exceed, all other emissions from the livestock that are doing the grazing. In this way, grass-fed beef has been offered by some as a climate solution, rather than a problem. This reportfinds that better management of grass-fed livestock,while worthwhile in and of itself, does not offer a significant solution to climate change as only under very specific conditionscan they help sequester carbon. This sequestering of carbon is even then small, time-limited, reversible and substantially outweighed by the greenhouse gas emissions these grazing animals generate. The report concludes that although there can be other benefits to grazing livestock - solving climate change isn’t one of them.
Download the report:
Read the press-release:
Share your thoughts using #GrazedandConfused
Newsletters
Grazed and confused? - New report evaluates the climate impact of grazing livestock
Is there such a thing as a climatically-guilt-free steak? Are grazing livestock climate villains or climate saviours? A new report by an international research collaboration led by the Food Climate Research Network (FCRN) provides an evidence-based and authoritative answer to these questions. The new report Grazed and confused? Ruminating on cattle, grazing systems, methane, nitrous oxide, the soil carbon sequestration question – and what it all means for greenhouse gas emissions, helps add clarity to the debate around livestock farming and meat and dairy consumption.
It is widely acknowledged that 14.5 % of all human made greenhouse gas emissions come from the livestock sector as a whole. There is however some confusion and disagreement in the debate about the climate impacts of grazing livestock (and particularly grass-fed beef). An increasingly vocalgroup of stakeholders has argued that well-managed grazing can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and sequester it in soils, and that these removals can substantially compensate for, or even exceed, all other emissions from the livestock that are doing the grazing. In this way, grass-fed beef has been offered by some as a climate solution, rather than a problem.
Written by FCRN’s Dr Tara Garnett in collaboration with Cécile Godde of CSIRO and a team of international experts, this report dissects claims made by different stakeholders in the debate, and evaluates them against the best available science.This report finds that better management of grass-fed livestock do not hold a solution to climate change as only under very specific conditions can they help sequester carbon. This sequestering of carbon is even then small, time-limited, reversible and substantially outweighed by the greenhouse gas emissions these grazing animals generate.The report concludes that although there can be other benefits to grazing livestock - solving climate change isn’t one of them.Lead author Dr Tara Garnett explains the key takeaways from this report:
“This report concludes that grass-fed livestock are not a climate solution. Grazing
livestock are net contributors to the climate problem, as are all livestock. Rising animal
production and consumption, whatever the farming system and animal type, is causing
damaging greenhouse gas release and contributing to changes in land use. Ultimately,
if high consuming individuals and countries want to do something positive for the
climate, maintaining their current consumption levels but simply switching to grass-fed
beef is not a solution. Eating less meat, of all types, is.”
Download the report:
Read the press-release:
Share your thoughts using #GrazedandConfused
Report IMAGES:
/ Figure 1: Contribution of ruminant and other sources of protein to total human protein supply.Data from FAO (2017) for year 2013
Figure 2: Global greenhouse gas emissions from livestock
production by emissions source and gas type. From Gerber et al. (2013)
Figure 6: Key carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems
Figure 9: Estimated annual soil carbon sequestration potential from grazing management, per hectare
Figure 11: Global greenhouse gas emissions and removals: grazing ruminants,
livestock and the2°Cwarming limit
Authors of the report- Tara Garnett @FCRNetwork @oxmartinschool @ecioxford
- Cécile Godde @Cecile_Godde @CSIRO
- Adrian Muller @fiblorg
- Elin Röös @Elin_Roos_SE @_SLU
- Pete Smith @aberdeenuni @ClimateXChange_
- Imke de Boer @WageningenINT
- Erasmus zu Ermgassen @erasmuszu @Cambridge_Uni
- Mario Herrero @CSIRO
- Corina van Middelaar @WageningenINT
- Christian Schader @fiblorg
- Hannah van Zanten @WageningenINT
The FCRN based at the University of Oxford and is part of theEnvironmental Change Institute’sFood Systems Groupand theOxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food.The FCRN conducts, synthesises, and communicates research on food systems and sustainability and work to inform and connect stakeholderswith a common interest inbuilding sustainable food systems.
Questions?
Contact: Marie Persson mariepersson(at)fcrn.org.uk