SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 13

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts by regulating emissions and promoting developments in renewable energy

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OBJECTIVE:

“There is no country that is not experiencing the drastic effects of climate change. Greenhouse gas emissions are more than 50 percent higher than in 1990. Global warming is causing long-lasting changes to our climate system, which threatens irreversible consequences if we do not act”.

“The annual average economic losses from climate-related disasters are in the hundreds of billions of dollars. This is not to mention the human impact of geo-physical disasters, which are 91 percent climate-related, and which between 1998 and 2017 killed 1.3 million people, and left 4.4 billion injured. The goal aims to mobilize US$100 billion annually by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries to both adapt to climate change and invest in low-carbon development”.

(Sustainable development goals: United Nations Development Programme: Goal 13 Climate Action)

HOW ANIMAL EXPLOITATION UNDERMINES THIS GOAL

AG effects of Greenhouse Gases: Animal agriculture is linked to 55 percent of erosion, 60 percent of nitrogen pollution, and 70 percent of the global dietary phosphorus footprint. If global consumption of meat and dairy continues to grow at the current pace, the agricultural sector could consume about 70 percent of the allowable budget for all GHG emissions by mid-century (1). A significant proportion of these emissions are in the form of methane, a gas that is 83x more warming than CO2 during the period that it is in the atmosphere (2). Animal agriculture also contributes to other greenhouse gases such as ammonia from chicken urine, and nitrous oxide from fertilizers used to accelerate crop growth (3).

Climate Change and Biodiversity Linked: Rising temperatures and other climate impacts have seriously altered the composition, function, and structure of many ecosystems and species, some irreversibly. Policies to tackle both problems are clearly needed, but siloed approaches continue to dominate proposed solutions. There are also risks that some climate policies, such as the expansion of afforestation or bioenergy, will have increasingly negative risks on biodiversity (4).
Climate Calls for Diet Change: Reducing fossil fuel use is essential to stopping climate change, but this goal will remain out of reach unless global agriculture and eating habits are also transformed (5).

Redirecting AG Subsidies: The high number of government subsidies currently devoted towards animal agriculture could be used to transition such industries into more sustainable, and climate-friendly systems (6).

Download the document below to read the full list of the latest citations of evidence as to how animal exploitation undermines the progress of SDG Goal 13: Climate Action

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Further Reading:

Goal 13 : Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform (United Nations website)

“Climate Change and Animal Agriculture, Explained” – When it comes to climate change, animal agriculture is a leading culprit, PETA / features – https://www.peta.org

“Animal Agriculture’s Impact on Climate Change” – Animal agriculture is the second-largest contributor to human-made greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions after fossil fuels and is a leading cause of deforestation, water and air pollution and biodiversity loss. (additionally) Animal agriculture is linked to: 55 percent of erosion; 60 percent of nitrogen pollution; and 70 percent of the global dietary phosphorus footprint. If global consumption of meat and dairy continues to grow at the current pace, the agriculture sector could consume about 70 percent of the allowable budget for all GHG emissions by mid-century. Climate Nexus – https://climatenexus.org

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