Animal agriculture emitted 25% of Australia’s greenhouse gases since 1990.

The livestock industry is the country’s second biggest contributor to climate change.

Animal agriculture is a ‘significant contributor’ to climate change at the global level, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports.¹ It is also the case at the national level here in Australia. Farming livestock for food and fibre has been responsible for one-quarter (25%) of the country’s total net greenhouse gas emissions since 1990, UNFCCC data reveals.² That is a massive share. For some perspective, crop farming only generated 4% of Australia’s net emissions during this same period (1990 to 2018).

Figure 1. Australia’s top 4 emitters: cumulative emissions in billion tonnes CO2-e.

Emissions related to animal agriculture amassed to 4.1 billion tonnes CO2-e over the past three decades (see Figure 1). It makes the livestock industry the country’s second largest source of emissions behind the energy industry. Farming livestock even emitted more greenhouse gases than transportation and manufacturing & construction combined. Australia’s net emissions totalled to 16.2 billion tonnes CO2-e in the period 1990 to 2018.

For 2018, the latest year on record, emissions related to animal agriculture hit 96 million tonnes CO2-e, an 18% share of the country’s annual net greenhouse gases emitted. It was about on par with the emissions generated from all modes of transport (e.g. passenger vehicles, freight, public transit, domestic flights, etc.) for that year.

How to work out animal agriculture’s share of emissions:

According to the Australian Government Climate Change Authority, agricultural-related emissions are not only recorded in the ‘agriculture’ section in inventory records, but also in the ‘land-use, land-use change, and forestry’ (LULUCF) section.³ The LULUCF section tabulates emissions from land clearing and deforestation activities, which, incidentally, are mostly carried out to support agricultural production, primarily livestock grazing.⁴ Divvying the sector’s emissions into two sections has the effect of obscuring its full contribution to climate change, however.

Figure 2 shows a breakdown of Australia’s total net emissions by sector since 1990, according to standard UNFCCC reporting. When emissions from land clearing for cropping and grazing are kept to the LULUCF section, agriculture’s contribution to net emissions is presented as a 14% share.

Figure 2. Sector contribution to Australia’s cumulative total net emissions (1990 to 2018).

To calculate agriculture’s full contribution to climate change, the emissions from agricultural-related land clearing and management in LULUCF can be moved to the ‘agriculture’ section. In LULUCF, agricultural-related emissions are recorded in the ‘grassland’ and ‘cropland’ sub-categories. Combined these activities generated 2.4 billion tonnes CO2-e since 1990, a 15% share of Australia’s total net emissions. A majority of agriculture’s contribution to climate change would be missed by only looking at the ‘agriculture’ section. Without agricultural-driven land clearing and management activities, LULUCF would actually be a net sink of emissions at -0.7 billion tonnes CO2-e since 1990.

Figure 3 provides a visual display of agriculture’s full contribution to climate change when agricultural-related land clearing and management emissions are shifted from LULUCF into the ‘agriculture’ section. It more than doubles to a 29% share of Australia’s total net emissions since 1990. Also note that LULUCF’s contribution becomes negative, a -4% net sink.

Figure 3. Modified sector contribution to Australia’s total net emissions (1990 to 2018).

Finally, we can compare livestock and crop production to see how much each contributes to agricultural emissions. Emissions coming from animal agriculture can be calculated by adding together two sub-categories found in the ‘agriculture’ section, ‘enteric fermentation’ and ‘manure management,’ with ‘grassland’ emissions recorded in LULUCF. Enteric fermentation and manure management measure the methane and nitrous oxide emissions that are released by livestock and their waste products.⁵ Grassland measures emissions from land-cleared and managed areas that ‘are used for extensive grazing of both sheep and cattle.’⁶ Their combined total reaches 4.1 billion tonnes CO2-e from 1990 to 2018.

Crop farming emissions are calculated by taking the total emissions from the ‘agriculture’ section less ‘enteric fermentation’ and ‘manure management’ and then adding ‘cropland’ emissions from the LULUCF section. It generated 0.6 billion tonnes CO2-e since 1990. That means the overwhelming share (87%) of agriculture-related emissions are attributable to the livestock industry.

Figure 4 displays livestock and crop agricultural emissions as a share of Australia’s total net emissions since 1990. The livestock industry is revealed to have emitted one-quarter (25%) of Australia’s greenhouse gases. In contrast, crop farming only contributed 4%.

Figure 4. Modified sector contribution to Australia’s total net emissions (1990 to 2018).

Notes:

[1] Gerber, P.J., Steinfeld, H., Henderson, B., Mottet, A., Opio, C., Dijkman, J., Falcucci, A. & Tempio, G. (2013). Tackling climate change through livestock — A global assessment of emissions and mitigation opportunities. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). http://www.fao.org/3/i3437e/i3437e.pdf. See pp. xii.

[2] United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). (2020). Greenhouse Gas Inventory Data — Detailed data by Party [Datafile and codebook]. https://di.unfccc.int/detailed_data_by_party

[3] Australian Government Climate Change Authority. (2017). Action on the land: Reducing emissions, conserving natural capital and improving farm profitability.https://www.climatechangeauthority.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-06/Action%20on%20the%20Land/AOTL2%20-%20Issues%20paper%20action%20on%20the%20land%209Mar.pdf. See p. 3.

[4] Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources. (2020). National Inventory Report 2018: Volume 2. https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/nga-national-inventory-report-2018-volume-2.pdf. See p. 10.

[5] Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources. (2020). National Inventory Report 2018: Volume 1. https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/nga-national-inventory-report-2018-volume-1.pdf. See pp. 283–285.

[6] Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources. (2020). National Inventory Report 2018: Volume 2. https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/nga-national-inventory-report-2018-volume-2.pdf. See p. 15.

Originally published at https://vstats.substack.com.