Pigs on a factory farm in cages - World Animal Protection

Code red on climate means moving away from factory farming

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The just released report on global heating by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has found that global temperatures are increasing and the human contribution to this is unequivocal and clear.

The report includes a section on Australia and its findings are extremely concerning. Among other projections, the report says “The intensity, frequency and duration of fire weather events are projected to increase throughout Australia”. That is bad news for Australia’s animals, 3 billion of which were killed or displaced in the 2019-20 fire season.

Urgent action is needed. It’s clear that every effort needs to be made to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from all sources and to transition away from systems and processes that drive global heating. That includes animal agriculture.

Our broken global food system is helping to fuel the climate crisis. Global meat production is five times higher than it was fifty years ago and food production has fundamentally changed to prioritise quantity over quality.

 Hundreds of billions of animals are now raised in barren, cruel conditions to produce lower quality meat that we don’t need. This system is a rampant greenhouse gas emitter, through deforestation for animal feed and livestock methane emissions.

 The demand for cheap meat fuels the fire, causing mass suffering to farmed animals, impacting the environment and endangering people’s health.

 We all have a part to play, by eating less meat, choosing humane and sustainable proteins and demanding a better life for farm animals. 

Our future depends on us rethinking how we treat all animals. We must all work together now to transform the global food system and end cruel factory farming.  This is an urgent action for animals, for people and for our planet.

 

Our broken global food system is helping to fuel the climate crisis.

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