Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 1 — Meta-analysis / systematic reviewPeer-reviewed

Greenhouse gas mitigation potentials in the livestock sector

Mario Herrero, B. Henderson, Peter Havlík, Philip K. Thornton, Richard T. Conant, Pete Smith, Stefan Wirsenius, A.N. Hristov, Pierre Gerber, M. Gill, Klaus Butterbach‐Bahl, Hugo Valin, Tara Garnett, Elke Stehfest

Nature Climate Change · 2016

Read source ↗ All evidence

Summary

This systematic review, published in Nature Climate Change, synthesises global evidence on greenhouse gas mitigation potentials across the livestock sector, evaluating technical and management interventions across cattle, pig, poultry and other production systems. The authors, a consortium of climate and agricultural scientists, assess the scale, cost, and regional feasibility of emissions reductions, providing a comprehensive evidence base for climate policy in agriculture. The work suggests substantial but variable mitigation opportunities exist, with effectiveness dependent on production context, technology adoption, and systemic factors.

UK applicability

Findings are relevant to UK livestock policy and farm management, particularly for dairy and beef systems which dominate UK livestock production. The review's assessment of feed efficiency, manure management, and breeding interventions directly informs UK agricultural climate commitments and farm carbon benchmarking schemes.

Key measures

Greenhouse gas emissions (CO₂-equivalents); mitigation potential (percentage or absolute reductions); cost-effectiveness of interventions; feasibility across production systems and regions

Outcomes reported

The study assessed mitigation potentials for greenhouse gas emissions across diverse livestock production systems and identified technical, management, and systemic interventions. It synthesised evidence on the scale and feasibility of emissions reductions across cattle, pig, poultry and other livestock sectors.

Theme
Climate & resilience
Subject
Climate & greenhouse gas mitigation
Study type
Systematic Review
Study design
Systematic review
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
Geography
Global
System type
Intensive livestock
DOI
10.1038/nclimate2925
Catalogue ID
BFmovbmhmv-zo544a

Topic tags

Pulse AI · ask about this record

Dig deeper with Pulse AI.

Pulse AI has read the whole catalogue. Ask about this record, its theme, or how the findings apply to UK farming and policy — every answer cites the underlying studies.