Beef’s Climate Impact Hidden by “Bookkeeping Trick,” Researchers Say
A new analysis reveals that the beef industry’s true climate footprint is being concealed by a “bookkeeping trick,” as global climate negotiators prepare for a major summit in Turkey.
Climate negotiators will meet in Turkey next month for the United Nations annual climate summit, known as the Conference of the Parties (COP) [277865]. The meeting follows a recent U.N. report warning that the world has a shrinking chance of limiting global warming to safe levels, projections that will likely shape the discussions [277865]. Researchers now say that the beef industry’s climate impact has been hidden by a “bookkeeping trick,” a finding that could add pressure on nations to address food systems in their climate plans.
The upcoming COP summit in Turkey comes as separate environmental negotiations have shown both progress and frustration. At the UN’s COP17 biodiversity summit in Armenia, delegates cheered as countries approved key texts in overtime on Friday after two weeks of tense negotiations [275511]. Nearly 200 nations reached difficult agreements, though the result came with disappointment over missed chances to address humanity’s destructive impact on nature [276410]. The COP17 summit sought to revive a landmark commitment to halt and reverse the loss of nature [276410]. Ecuador was also chosen to host the next UN biodiversity summit, COP18, in 2028 [275511].
While negotiations at COP17 remained slow and difficult, progress was being made outside the negotiating rooms — progress that could matter greatly if it reaches the talks [273854]. The outcome of the summit was mixed, with the promised strategy to speed up countries’ pledges to save the planet’s biodiversity not as strong as many had hoped [276306].