Livestock development is failing to access a fair share of climate finance due to lack of data, warns a group of experts
Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) need robust information and evidence to access a proportionate share of climate finance needed to meet their livestock development potential, argues the Livestock Data for Decisions (LD4D) Climate Finance Solutions Group in a series of three new evidence briefs.
As a coalition of 20 international livestock and finance experts, the author’s goal is to equip decision-makers ahead of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 79) and the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) to discuss how to unlock climate finance that helps livestock production reduce its emissions and support producers in adapting to more extreme and variable weather.
“More than 1.3 billion people rely on livestock for food security – and this number will only grow in the coming years. Supportive policies and more climate finance will help the sector finally unlock its full potential to reduce hunger sustainably,” said Carlos Gonzalez Fischer, a member of the group and Research Associate at Cornell University’s Department of Global Development.
The group has pulled together crucial evidence that could support low- and middle-income countries to access the climate finance needed to meet rapidly growing food demand. This includes reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the livestock sector while sustainably increasing production, improving resilience to climate shocks, and promoting the inclusion of women and youth, among other benefits.
The livestock sector is currently responsible for up to 20 per cent of human-induced GHG emissions but receives a low proportion of the project-level climate finance flowing to agriculture. With the human population projected to increase by nearly two billion people in 2050, food demand is expected to increase by 30 per cent globally and as much as 100 per cent in some LMICs. To help reach this target, livestock production must become more efficient – producing more without increasing emissions.
The evidence briefs released by the group cover three essential areas to increase the flow of climate finance for livestock development: the investment case for finance, national policy support, and standard methods for measuring livestock emissions. The first brief lays out how more climate finance would enable livestock-raising communities in LMICs to adopt already proven climate-smart solutions. These include shifts towards sustainable farming practices, such as rotating livestock grazing, which can reduce GHG emissions by up to 30 per cent while boosting productivity and household incomes.
The second brief shows how countries can better access and deploy climate finance by including livestock in national climate plans, standardizing livestock data, and improving coordination between the actors implementing climate policy. Kenya, for instance, is expected to benefit from $144 million mobilized through its Dairy Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA) after including livestock in its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
The third brief summarizes globally-recognized methods used to measure emissions in livestock systems. According to the brief, measurements of emissions are essential for any initiative seeking financing for development and are also a key part of planning, implementing, and assessing projects. These methods include measuring emissions based on the whole livestock value chain such as farm management practices and animal diets.
The evidence briefs show how increased investments in climate solutions from private and public sectors can provide livestock development in LMICs the resources to meet their significant food security and economic and environmental potential.
