Vienna, 15 September 2023 – Global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS joins the climate strike in many cities across the world to call for an end to factory farming and a reduction of global meat and dairy production. Accounting for at least one-sixth of all manmade greenhouse gas emissions – and thus more than the global transport sector – these dominant drivers of the climate crisis have been ignored for too long by politicians and industries.

2023 has seen record-high temperatures with the hottest ever measured July, devastating wildfires, floodings, and landslides. Around the globe millions of animals and people alike suffer from the rising heat, threatening livelihoods and destroying homes. Factory farming is a major contributor to harmful methane emissions, the world´s biggest driver of deforestation. A shift towards more plant-based diets is a key factor to reach short-term climate targets and to avoid triggering dangerous tipping points.

Background

Why the meat and dairy industry are the culprit

In the public debate the necessity of a transition towards renewable energies is widely discussed and accepted as an essential climate solution. Due to the limited time we have before passing the critical 1.5°C limit from the Paris Climate Agreement, mitigation measures in all sectors are necessary, especially those with short term effects. While carbon dioxide is a long-lasting greenhouse gas heating up the planet for hundreds of years, reduction measures pay off slowly over time. On the contrary, the very potent greenhouse gas methane, which is 84 times more potent than CO2 over a 20-year timeframe according to the IPCC, is considered a short-term greenhouse gas which makes it essential for climate solutions. 

With a 32% share, the livestock sector is the biggest source of human-made methane emissions due to manure management and enteric fermentation of ruminant animals for meat and dairy production. Not only are farmed animals-related methane emissions heating up the planet rapidly, but deforestation for animal feed and grazing cattle are the number one cause of biodiversity and habitat loss, freshwater exploitation and overexploitation of land and resources which are vital for healthy ecosystems. According to a recently published report by FOUR PAWS most industrialised countries must cut down 70-80% on their meat production and consumption to stay within planetary boundaries and align with the 1.5°C heating limit. 

Fridays for Future

The climate strike is initiated by the global climate movement Fridays For Future (FFF). Five years after its inception it keeps reiterating its warning messages louder than ever before. What started with Greta Thunberg in August 2018 now is a movement that criticises political indecisiveness, with clear demands: to follow science, limit global heating to 1.5°C and ensure climate justice.

Fridays for Future, is a youth-led and -organised global climate  movement that started in August 2018, when 15-year-old Greta Thunberg began a school strike for climate. In the three weeks leading up to the Swedish election, she sat outside Swedish Parliament every school day, demanding urgent action on the climate crisis. Since then, she, and other young people all over the world organised weekly strikes, inspiring millions of people to take action on the climate crisis.