Key findings

The number of mammals and poultry farmed each year worldwide has increased by 53% since 2006.
Greenhouse gas emissions from livestock have increased by 22% from 2001 to 2023. A 2024 Harvard survey found emissions from livestock must fall 50% by 2030 to meet the World Bank’s target of net zero food emissions by 2050, but instead they are rising.
Governments are failing to protect forests and biodiversity. Animal agriculture remains a leading driver of deforestation. Around four million hectares of forest are lost each year, and 70 to 80% of that is linked to agriculture.
Inefficient land use is increasing. 80% of global farmland is used for animal agriculture but this produces only 18% of the world’s calories. The amount of arable land used worldwide to grow feed for farmed animals has increased by 27% since the time of Livestock’s Long Shadow.
Animal farming’s use of resources is unsustainable. Around 1,000 million hectares of agricultural land is degraded globally, pesticide use has doubled since 1990, and farmed animals are driving one-third of nitrogen emissions.

The solution

The report calls for policymakers to:

reduce production and consumption of animal-sourced foods
repurpose harmful agricultural subsidies
produce food within planetary boundaries
ensure the price of food reflects its true environmental and societal costs, by taxing industrially produced food and using all of the revenue raised to subsidise nutritious, sustainable options.

Time for change

Our Chief Policy Adviser, Peter Stevenson OBE said:

If we are to reverse the environmental damage caused by the global livestock sector, we need to reduce consumption of intensively produced meat and milk.

We should move to forms of farming such as agroecology that minimise the use of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides. Such nature-based farming can restore biodiversity, build soil quality, conserve water, and store carbon while supporting farmers’ livelihoods.

Livestock’s Long Shadow mentions animal welfare just three times in its 390 pages. At present, the vast majority of the world’s farmed animals are confined in factory farms in inhumane conditions. These animals suffer on a daily basis. Massive changes are needed to end this suffering.

Livestock’s Environmental Toll Is Rising