A new report by World Animal Protection has indicated that factory farming contributes at least 11% of the global greenhouse gases fuelling climate change.
The report has also indicated that animal agriculture is impacting small-holder farming, contributing to the livelihoods and food security of 1.7 billion people.
It further stated that Global North’s factory farms are responsible for US$8.65 billion worth of damage across recent disasters in Africa, Asia, and South America.
"By 2050, the economic costs associated with climate-driven disasters globally could exceed US$1 trillion annually as the impacts of climate change intensify with factory farms liable for over US$100 billion of that cost," the report stated.
Additionally, the report indicates, that factory farming releases a large proportion of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, worsening heat waves, wildfires, floods, and droughts.
"Swathes of wild habitat are destroyed to plant crops for animal feed, killing wild species and releasing more carbon, and the journey from factory farm to dinner plate pumps around six trillion tons of emissions into the atmosphere."
"Billions of caged animals in factory farms are subjected to unimaginable cruelty."
The report showed that the unethical and unsustainable practices are perpetuated by the world’s biggest meat producers who are reaping record profits at the expense of vulnerable communities, animals and the environment.
"The world’s biggest meat producer, Brazil-based JBS - which is widely condemned for accelerating deforestation - recently announced a record $72.6 billion in global net revenue."
Director for Africa at World Animal Protection Tennyson Williams said: “As our report details, animal cruelty and climate change are interlinked. Until we get rid of animal cruelty in farming, climate change will worsen. Factory farming poses a core obstacle in achieving the targets laid out in the Paris Climate Agreement and casts a dark shadow over the prospect of a climate-safe future.
On his part, World Animal Protection’s Humane and Sustainable Agriculture Campaigns Manager Victor Yamo said:
“World leaders must act meaningfully at COP28. The factory farming industry must be held accountable by governments and finance must be directed to the Global South communities on the front line of climate change.
“COP28 must take action to shore up a humane and sustainable food supply, with governments withdrawing subsidies for industrial meat and dairy and redirecting them to plant-based foods in ways that support small-scale farmers. Animals remaining on factory farms should be spared the worst forms of suffering.”