Increasing beef production won’t reduce emissions

De Oliveira Silva et al. (2016) model beef production in the Brazilian Cerrado, and conclude that – if accompanied by tight deforestation control – increasing production could lower emissions by incentivising better pasture management. While their analysis is valuable in identifying the conditions under which increasing meat consumption could be compatible with reducing greenhouse gas emissions, we believe that there is little chance of such conditions occurring in practice. Overall, increasing beef consumption and production is unlikely to be an effective lever for reducing emissions, and is more likely to exacerbate deforestation.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.