Dairy sector produces 4% of greenhouse gases

The dairy sector makes up for around four per cent of all global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, says a report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.
    
Anthropogenic (caused or produced by human beings) greenhouse gases (GHG) include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.
    
"This figure (4 per cent) includes emissions from production, processing and transportation of milk products as well as those related to meat produced from animals originating from the dairy system," FAO said in a statement highlighting findings of its study.
    
The dairy sector contributes 2.7 per cent of global anthropogenic GHG emissions, if meat production is excluded.
    
"This report is fundamental to understand and identify opportunities for reducing the environmental impact of the dairy sector while providing safe and nutritious foodstuffs," FAO Animal Production and Health Division Director Samuel Jutzi said in the statement.
    
In 2007, the dairy sector emitted 1,969 million tonnes (MT) of carbon dioxide equivalent, of which 1,328 MT is attributed to milk, 151 MT to meat from culled dairy animals, and 490 MT from calves from the dairy sector that were raised for meat. The carbon dioxide equivalent emission is a standard for comparing emissions of other GHGs, the statement said.
    
Methane contributes the most to the global warming impact of milk, accounting for about 52 per cent of the GHG emissions in both developing and developed countries. Nitrous oxide emissions account for 27 per cent of GHG emissions in developed countries and 38 per cent in developing countries.
    
Carbon dioxide accounts for a higher share of emissions at 21 per cent in developed countries than in developing countries at 10 per cent. The global average of GHG emissions per kg of milk and related products is estimated at 2.4 kg carbon dioxide equivalent.
    
Greenhouse gas emissions from the dairy sector cover all major milk production systems from nomadic herds to intensified dairy operations. The FAO report focuses on the whole dairy foodchain. The margin of error of the estimates is ?26 per cent.
    
The assessment is part of an ongoing programme to analyse and recommend options for climate change mitigation. The next step is to use a similar approach to quantify GHG emissions associated with other major livestock species, including buffalo, poultry, small ruminants and pigs, the release added.
     
In its 2006 report, Livestock's Long Shadow, the FAO found that 18 per cent of all greenhouse emissions were caused by the livestock sector, using an aggregate life cycle approach.