Factory farming has been proven to have serious negative implications on the climate. The system depends on subjecting animals to a life of cruelty whiles locking up land to produce animal feed. Factory farming destroys natural habitats worsening the climate crisis. Also, the practice is an inefficient way to deliver food to people at the expense of animals’ welfare.
Governments have signed the Paris Climate Agreement target of limiting the planet to a 1.5 degrees Celsius rise in temperature to help save the climate. However, this feat cannot be achieved without tackling the problem of factory farming. According to World Animal Protection, Governments can meet the target and their commitments to end deforestation and reduce methane, by addressing factory farming.
As part of the recommendations, Governments are asked to impose a moratorium on factory farming. This means that governments should not approve of new factory farms or expansions for the next ten years. The measure is expected to stop the growth of the problem. It will also buy time for regulations to catch up with factory farming’s negative impacts on animals, people, and the planet.
Considering the nature of the problems created by factory farming, governments are again advised to redirect subsidies and policy support away from factory farming. Rather, they should support humane, sustainable plant-based food production. Public procurement policies should also reflect this shift.
The World Animal Protection has charged governments to ensure that the factory farming industry starts phasing out the use of human-edible feed for farmed animals. This can help to substantially reduce the number of animals farmed globally to the benefit of the climate. Hence, there would be fewer farmed animals living outside factory farms where feed is sourced locally and sustainably.
Further, Governments should implement the Farm Animal Responsible Minimum Standards (FARMS). This will help check the many unnecessary sufferings that farmed animals go through. The World Animal Protection projects that a reduction in animal production by at least 50% by 2040 would present many positive impacts on the climate.
SOURCE: World Animal Protection