China’s low-emission pathways toward climate-neutral livestock production for animal-derived foods

Abstract

Animal-derived food production accounts for one-third of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Diet followed in China is ranked as low-carbon emitting (i.e., 0.21 t CO2-eq per capita in 2018, ranking at 145th of 168 countries) due to the low average animal-derived food consumption rate, and preferential consumption of animal-derived foods with lower GHG emissions (i.e., pork and eggs versus beef and milk). However, the projected increase in GHG emissions from livestock production poses great challenges for achieving China’s “carbon neutrality” pledge. We propose that the livestock sector in China may achieve “climate neutrality” with net-zero warming around 2050 by implementing healthy diet and mitigation strategies to control enteric methane emissions.

Keywords

• greenhouse gas
• ruminant animals
• enteric methane emissions
• healthy diet
• methane mitigation