Last year, three of the world's largest meat companies — JBS, Cargill and Tyson Foods — emitted more greenhouse gases than France and nearly as much as some big oil companies. And yet, while energy giants like Exxon and Shell have drawn fire for their role in fueling climate change, the corporate meat and dairy industries have largely avoided scrutiny. If we are to avert environmental disaster, this double standard must change.
To bring attention to this issue, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, GRAIN and Germany's Heinrich Boell Foundation recently teamed up to study the "supersized climate footprint" of the global livestock trade. What we found was shocking. In 2016, the world's 20 largest meat and dairy companies emitted more greenhouse gases than Germany. If these companies were a country, they would be the world's seventh-largest emitter.
Obviously, mitigating climate change will require tackling emissions from the meat and dairy industries. The question is how.