Summary
This systematic review, published in Nature Climate Change in 2016, synthesises evidence on greenhouse gas mitigation potentials across global livestock production. The authors evaluate technical mitigation options—including feed additives, improved genetics, grazing management, and manure handling—alongside their economic feasibility and implementation constraints. The review concludes that substantial emission reductions are technically achievable across livestock systems, though realisation depends critically on policy support, financial incentives, and overcoming geographically and systemically variable adoption barriers.
UK applicability
The findings are directly relevant to UK livestock policy and practice, particularly for dairy and intensive beef production systems. UK policymakers and farmers can draw on the reviewed mitigation options to inform climate commitments under the Climate Change Act and farming subsidy reform, though implementation barriers may differ from global averages.
Key measures
Greenhouse gas emission reduction potentials; economic feasibility of mitigation options; adoption constraints; emissions across different livestock production systems and geographies
Outcomes reported
The study synthesised evidence on technical mitigation options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions across global livestock production systems. It evaluated the economic feasibility and adoption constraints of various mitigation strategies across different production contexts and geographies.
Topic tags
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