On 25 September, the Advancing Livestock for Climate (ALive4Climate) Alliance hosted the side event, “Pastures of Plenty: Sustainable Livestock Solutions for Climate, Nature, and People,” in New York at Climate Week NYC (NYCW) and the UN General Assembly (UNGA79). Moderated by Gerson Freitas Jr., news journalist at Bloomberg, this session provided an opportunity for audience members to learn more about the crucial role sustainable livestock systems play in addressing climate change and what solutions need to be scaled and financed. 

Key Takeaways 

1. Livestock is critical and adds nuance to climate and food conversations. In his keynote presentation, Mario Herrero, professor in the Cornell CALS Department of Global Development and the director of Food Systems and Global Change, emphasized the significant economic scale and complexity of global livestock systems. Globally, the livestock sector receives an investment of approximately $3.5 trillion, exceeding crop investment by $1 trillion, and employs about 1 billion people. Despite its economic potential, the sector also contributes 60% of food system emissions, with cattle being responsible for 65-78% of these emissions. With so many livelihoods depending on livestock and the growing demand for animal-sourced foods, Herrero pushed the room to think beyond meat or no meat, "We perhaps should try to implement sustainable intensification solutions that go hand-in-hand with reducing the number of animals." This solution would reduce the number of animals contributing to methane emissions, while providing an increase in production for farmers to still profit. 

2. There are no silver bullets, but climate-smart livestock solutions already exist and are ready to scale. Peri Rosenstein, senior scientist on Livestock Systems at the Environmental Defense Fund, explained that sometimes the most prominent strategies for reducing methane are not the most exciting innovations. While feed additives or methane vaccines seem sexy and absolute, something as simple as improving animal health could produce a “triple-win” for animals, humans, and the environment. Furthermore, livestock solutions need to be adapted for specific regions and contexts, packaged with education, impact measurements, on-ground logistics, access to services, and financing for effective scaling.  

3. Financing livestock is affordable but not without challenges. William Sutton, global lead for Climate Smart Agriculture and lead agricultural economist at The World Bank, highlighted their new and first flagship report on emissions “Recipe for a livable planet.” The report estimated that 260 billion dollars in climate finance is needed annually to transform the entire agri-food system towards net zero to reach 2050 goals, but this pales in comparison to the 650 billion spent on subsidies and other support for agriculture. Here are some financing solutions that came up in the conversation: 

• Repurposing existing public subsidies to increase investments in sustainable livestock 

• Engaging large companies in conversation to boost sustainability and accountability 

• Lifting barriers to enable farmers to implement climate-smart technologies that also boost productivity 

• Investing in climate finance for women farmers 

• Raising awareness and educating consumers to encourage premium payments for sustainably produced goods 

4. Climate financing can’t leave anyone behind, especially the woman farmer. In a world where many women can’t own land, access finance, face discrimination, lack participation, and are most vulnerable to climate change, most rural livestock keepers are women. This is because livestock, mostly smaller stock like chickens or small ruminants, are the only thing a woman can own and sell to pay for their children’s school fees, for example. On the point, “Investing in climate finance for women farmers,” Jeannette Gurung, executive director at Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (WOCAN) and member of the Livestock Data for Decisions (LD4D) Solutions Group on Climate Finance & Livestock, shared our most striking statistic of the afternoon, “Less than 1% of all climate finance has anything to do with gender, and of that percentage, not even 0.1% goes down to grassroots level to help the farmers that need investments the most.” Both gender and climate experts agree that if women farmers don’t get the investment they need for mitigation and adaption solutions, it is a risk to our global system which policymakers must take seriously. 

Looking Forward 

This side event was part of an ongoing conversation on sustainable livestock, a topic that still divides climate and food audiences. Amber Smith, executive director of Women in Ranching, urged future conversations to move past high-level and come back down to earth. As a cattle rancher herself and one of few in the room, she said: 

"We need to create a space for global conversations with those who raise cattle to feed their families. Many of us are increasing numbers to break even and become profitable. It's crucial to have boots on the ground—with innovators and development partners to show us practices that have potential for improvement, while providing support for deploying resources effectively." 

As we head towards COP29, which will be heavily focused on financing, how can we make sure farmer’s voices from around the world are heard? 

If you are still wondering, why climate finance for livestock? Please read the “Climate Finance for Livestock Development Evidence Briefs” for more information and evidence on quantifying emissions, building an investment case, and unlocking vital funding. These briefs were produced by the Climate Finance & Livestock Solutions Group, led by LD4D.

Banner photo credit: Heifer International

Watch the recording

Watch the full recording on YouTube here.