Professor Giuseppe Pulina replies to Greenpeace’s fake news that “intensive farming produces 17% of greenhouse gases in the EU, more than cars and vans”.

Professor Giuseppe Pulina, President Emeritus of the Association for Science and Animal Productions and President of the Sustainable Meat Project (Carni Sostenibili), replies in this short video to Greenpeace’s claims that “intensive farms produce 17% of greenhouse gases in the EU, more than the emissions of all existing cars and vans“. The NGO report contains several inaccuracies, explains Professor Pulina. Two out of all: that farming in Europe emits more greenhouse gases than cars, and that emissions from European farms have increased in the last ten years. Well, nothing more false.

According to data from the European Environment Agency (EEA), cars alone – without considering all transport combined – in the EU emit twice as much greenhouse gases as all farms combined. This figure, if you look at planes, ships, etc., leads the livestock sector to have a quarter of its impact on the climate than transport. Regarding the increase in emissions from farms mentioned by Greenpeace, it is not well known on what data basis, in addition to the EEA, FAO also reminds us that this is not the case: farm emissions have fallen by 4% over the last decade.

You cannot compare pears with bananas, nor add them up, Professor Pulina points out. Similarly, emissions from fossil fuels cannot be compared to livestock emissions, because they are part of a cycle (the biogenic carbon cycle) and do not accumulate in the atmosphere for centuries like the first ones. Besides, direct emissions are usually considered when it comes to transport, while direct and indirect emissions are added when it comes to meat production. This is not correct, not even scientifically. Do we want to calculate also indirect emissions to produce a car, so all emissions generated to produce it and compare them to livestock emissions? Maybe it would be time to do it.

In short, spreading partial and specious fake news risks creating confusion and misinformation when it is crucial (for everyone) to find the real causes of climate change so that we can really resolve it. If you want to contribute to the climate cause, then, share this video or the information it contains. Thank you.

In the picture the comparison between transports emissions and livestock emissions: the CO2 emitted by total transports is 828,02 million tons, while the CO2 emitted by cars is 474,31 million tons, versus the CO2 emitted by livestock that is only 228,75 million tons, with a discrepancy of 50% of emissions in less for livestock.

Below is the video (sorry, only in Italian).