Animals
Escape From the Net
Researchers in the UK have discovered that LED lights on escape routes in fishing nets can save up to 50% of unwanted catch (bycatch). Tests with scallop trawling in the Irish Sea show that illuminated exits reduce the capture of non-target fish, dolphins and sea birds. Fishers have an incentive to adopt the system because too much bycatch can shut down fisheries until vulnerable stocks recover. www.theguardian.com
Food
Another New Arrival in the Dairy Aisle
Plant-based butter is gaining share in the dairy market as its sales grew 15% between 2017 – 2019 outpacing regular butter sales growth. With a lighter carbon footprint – it emits fewer GHGs and uses less land and water – it also has less saturated fats and no trans fats. The plant-based butter supply chain can respond more quickly to changing market conditions too e.g., be unaffected by the dumping of milk due to Covid-19. www.forbes.com
the Climate Crisis
A Sobering Perspective
The drop in global GHG emissions brought about by the Covid-19 lockdown could be as much as 7% in 2020 if the lockdown continues. This would seem to be good news in the face of the terrible toll being exacted by the pandemic. However, to meet the Paris target of keeping the rise in the average global temperature to 1.5C, a UN report issued in Nov 2019, said the world needs to cut emissions by 7.6% every year for the next decade. The Covid shutdown shows us just how big a task this is.
speaking words of wisdom
“Getting animals off our collective plate would go a long way toward preventing future pandemics and would improve our health and our environment at the same time too.”
— Dr. Neal Barnard, President, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
“One of the lessons learnt from this crisis is that we must change our ways. Scientists warn that to avoid future crises, we must drastically change our diets and move to plant-rich foods. For the sake of the animals, planet and the health of our children.”
“If we do not do things differently, we are finished.”
— Dr. Jane Goodall, ethologist and environmentalist.
perspective
Photo: Jo-Anne McArthur, We Animals Media
The Meat Supply System Is Under the Microscope
Widespread media coverage of sick and dying slaughterhouse workers, the killing of millions of chickens before they leave the farm and “depopulating” thousands of unwanted pigs using wood chippers are the most recent dramatic signs of our broken meat production system. These failings of supply chain logistics, highlighted by the extreme conditions of the pandemic, have attracted broad criticism and unprecedented scrutiny of industrialized animal agriculture.
Consumers are becoming more aware of the impacts of their food choices and this is forcing a reckoning for the industry. Public commentary is focusing on the climate, environmental, health and animal welfare impacts of the meat production system and is calling for change. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the US, the largest meat market in the world.
Respected commentator Fareed Zakaria on CNN and writing in The Washington Post calls out the widespread damage inflicted by the factory farming system and how our “insatiable appetite for meat” is a potential path for the next pandemic. The New York Times, profiles a county sheriff in Iowa who asks whether a pork chop is worth a worker’s life. Best-selling author Jonathan Safran Foer heralds The End of Meat in The New York Times, and in The Washington Post says “letting the monstrous factory farm system fail would allow safer, more just and sustainable models of agriculture.”
Financial market commentator Jim Cramer on CNBC says the pandemic is accelerating demand for plant-based meat because “people are getting appalled at what is happening at the meatpackers” and that products such as Beyond Meat “will allow people to skip that thing called the industrial cow.” A story in The American Conservative covers the bi-partisan tradition of animal welfare in the US using the headline, “A Rosa Parks Moment for Animal Welfare.” And Joseph Winters of the Harvard Political Review writes “we must critically examine and dismantle the country’s unsustainable and unethical meat production pipeline.” It seems that NOT eating meat is having a moment.
The deeper dive
Global Report Card: Failing Grades For Animal Protection
The pandemic is yet another warning that we need to re-examine our relationship with nature and a recent report shows many countries get failing grades when it comes to animal protection laws, especially for animals in factory farms.
The Animal Protection Index, an authoritative report from the global charity World Animal Protection, assesses the animal welfare policies and legislation of 50 countries based on how they treat and protect wild and companion animals and those used for farming, research or entertainment. On a scale of A to G, Canada and the US received a ranking of D for overall animal welfare, lower than Mexico and India. The low ratings are mainly because of inadequate legislation to protect wildlife in captivity and animals working, being farmed, used in research, and companion animals.
For the treatment of farm animals, Canada and the US were rated D and E respectively. “Farm animals are still raised in intensive systems, kept in barren, cramped conditions and sometimes subjected to painful procedures such as having their teeth clipped, without pain relief,” according to the report.
In North America, laws and policies protecting animals are inconsistent across different jurisdictions and have exemptions regarding farm animals. In the US, 34 of 50 states exclude livestock from anti-cruelty provisions, and Canada has similar loopholes. This means many common agricultural practices such as tail docking, castration or de-horning without pain-killers are permitted.
The EU typically has higher animal welfare standards than North America and some countries such as the UK legally recognize animal sentience. And whereas some jurisdictions in the US and Canada are pushing “ag-gag” laws designed to prevent undercover investigations and whistleblowing regarding conditions on factory farms, England mandated CCTV coverage in all slaughterhouses in 2018. World Animal Protection says that while there are some policy improvements for farm animals designed to phase out battery cages for egg-laying hens, pregnancy crates for mother pigs and the tethering of dairy calves, most of these requirements are not legally mandated.
The report says there is still significant work to do to protect and reduce the suffering of animals around the world. In doing so, we could begin to repair our broken relationship with nature.
seeking solace in nature
Life in lockdown has caused hardship and anxiety for millions. But it’s also brought unexpected pleasures for people who are reconnecting with nature e.g., there’s been a surge of interest in backyard and balcony birdwatching #balconybirding. And there have been stories on the increase in bird photography, seeing 300 species of birds in Delhi, people hearing birdsong in silent cities, and an Illinois woman who says she has a giant Sandhill Crane tapping on her window!
Photo: Red-headed Woodpecker, Planet Friendly News
Good news
Health experts advise a well-balanced diet to support a stronger immune function and this might be a good time to try more plant-based eating with fewer social pressures and lots of time to experiment in the kitchen. Here are a couple of great resources: www.ChefChloe.com, www.ForksOverKnives.com
Two state-of-the-industry reports on: plant-based meat, eggs and dairy; and, cultivated meat -- issued by The Good Food Institute (GFI) -- said that alternative protein innovation reached an all-time high in 2019. Twenty of the 55 companies active in this space worldwide were formed in 2019. Plant-based foods suit new consumption patterns and offer a substantially lower risk of pathogens than conventional meat. US retail sales of plant-based meat rose by 18% in 2019 and plant-based food sales reached $5B. Saying the future is plant-based and cultivated meat, GFI also said it’s still early days and the industries need more capital and resources to transform the food system into becoming stable and sustainable. www.gfi.org
The International Energy Agency (IEA), recently announced that CO2 emissions from energy stopped growing in 2019. This resulted from declining emissions from electricity generation due to the uptake of renewables, switching from coal to natural gas and increasing nuclear power generation. www.wri.org The IEA said renewable electricity will be the only resilient source of energy should the demand for fossil fuels be wiped out by Covid-19 and in a world facing multi-decade lows for consumption.
data points
Asia accounts for 44% of world meat consumption; this is expected to grow by 70% by 2050.
The International Energy Agency forecasts that global energy demand is likely to fall by 6% this year -- equal to the energy demands of India, the world’s third largest consumer.
A study published in Cardiovascular Research, says air pollution causes more premature deaths than smoking and if fossil fuel emissions were halted, the average global life expectancy would increase by more than a year. www.wri.org
A new study found that even if coal production declined, abandoned mines will continue to emit methane. This means mines will continue to be an important source of emissions throughout this century. www.carbonbrief.org
More than one-third of the world’s coastline is covered with sandy beaches. A new study in Nature Climate Change found that sea level rise, among other factors, could make half of these beaches disappear by 2100.
climate connection
These articles are adapted from The Climate Beat, the weekly newsletter of Covering Climate Now, a global journalistic initiative committed to more and better climate coverage.
Yale and George Mason University’s centers on Climate Change Communication are out with an extensive study on Americans’ perception of the climate crisis. Called “Climate Change in the American Mind,” the study’s key findings include: A record-tying 73% percent of Americans think global warming is happening, while a record high 54% are “extremely” or “very” sure of it and a record-tying 62% understand that it is human-caused. Engagement on the issue was found to be “at or near” historic highs. Crucially, a majority of Americans called themselves at least “moderately” interested in news coverage of the climate story—yet fewer than half say they hear about global warming in the news at least once a month.
Speaking of the carbon curve, Grist demonstrates visually why rapid action is necessary to flatten it — and to stay under our “carbon budget.” There’s no time to wait, Grist’s graphic illustrates, because the higher the curve climbs, the harder it will be to bring under control.
In a short and sweet video explainer, Vox charts the greenhouse gas emissions caused by the staples in our diets — and details why exactly beef, cheese, and (we’re sorry to say) coffee come at such a greater cost to the environment than others.
The Guardian has launched a series focused on how the UK might benefit from a green recovery. Among other topics, the stories focus on how renewable energy can help drive recovery efforts; how the virus has challenged the primacy of cars in cities; and how the recovery might finally prompt a green revolution in the airline industry.
charting our path
Switching From Beef to Chicken Brings Its Own Baggage
In a factory farm, chickens typically spend their entire lives in a space equivalent to an 8.5 x 11-inch piece of paper. The above chart from UK-based Compassion In World Farming (CIWF) puts this density in perspective. As more people become aware of the environmental damage being done by intensive agriculture, some people are turning away from beef, widely considered to be the worst culprit, to chicken. For example, in Canada, demand for pork and beef has declined by about one-third while demand for chickens has more than doubled.
However, although choosing chickens is a somewhat better choice for the environment, it does result in many more animals suffering in factory farms. It takes approximately 185 chickens to produce as much meat as one cow.
Editor’s note: No-one wants to applaud changes stemming from the terrible toll being exacted by Covid-19, and yet it’s difficult to ignore the stark evidence that old habits can change very quickly and those changes in behaviour have given us glimpses of the benefits that can accrue. From clearer skies to fewer children developing asthma, to a growing awareness of the danger of future pandemics that lurks in our current food system, this is a wake-up call like no other. So, the question facing each of us is: will we return to life as in pre-Covid or will we take this historic opportunity to change how we live? The case for change has emphatically been made, how will we respond?