By Paul Winters
In Argentina, where beef is a symbol of national pride, a government-led partnership has started certifying certain livestock as carbon neutral. It's a big step that shouldn't be underestimated, but getting the certification process right is crucial.
The world's livestock sector is a key driver of climate change, contributing around 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Two-thirds of agriculture's annual greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock, with raising cattle for meat typically being the most emissions-intensive activity. While shifting diets to plant-based foods and alternative proteins can help reduce emissions, global meat consumption is growing with an expanding population and rising prosperity.
There are ways that livestock producers can reduce those emissions. However, beyond social pressure, ranchers have few incentives to do so. Unless those steps to reduce emissions also increase productivity, they typically become costs with little immediate benefit in return.
With formal certification, farmers can earn a higher price. This has been the case with certified organic or fair-trade products. If livestock could be raised in ways that produce fewer emissions and certified as climate-friendly, the resulting higher prices they could fetch might give producers an incentive to invest in reducing their herds' emissions.
Argentina's certification approach relies on a silvopastoral system, which integrates tree growth with grazing or production of grasses or grains for fodder. Livestock are raised in forest interspersed with native natural grasslands and cultivated pastures. The pasture and grazing are managed to return nutrients and organic matter to the soil.
The trees and soil regeneration methods both store carbon, leading to the certification's claim that the cattle, despite the greenhouse gases they produce, are carbon neutral.
The certification, approved in early 2024, is a collaboration between Argentina's National Agricultural Technology Institute and National Industrial Technology Institute and the Argentinian private sector, with certification from the International Environmental Product Declaration System, one of the first and longest operating third-party verification systems of environmental claims.
This silvopastoral system may be hard to replicate elsewhere, but it's only one way to reduce livestock emissions. I'm an agricultural and resource economist and executive director for the Innovation Commission for Climate Change, Food Security and Agriculture, led by Nobel Laureate Michael Kremer.
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