Launched in April 2022, the below report highlights the role reducing key endemic diseases in ruminants can play in contributing to the Global Methane Pledge formed at COP26 to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030.
RH&W has worked alongside Dr Philip Skuce, principal scientist at Moredun Research Institute, to detail actionable guidance for the livestock sector to reduce their methane emissions through improved animal health.
The report details available interventions for priority health and welfare conditions to provide a starting point for discussions between farmers, vets and animal health advisers about identifying disease goals with methane reductions in mind.
Read the full report to discover more about reducing emissions through the intervention of endemic diseases.
Report Resources
- Joint EU-US Press Release on the COP26 Global Methane Pledge 2021 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_21_4785
- Ruminant Health & Welfare Group: Cattle and Sheep Health and Welfare Survey, 2021 https://ruminanthw.org.uk/health_welfare_survey/
- Agricultural Emissions and Climate Change, DEFRA, 9th Edition
- https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/835762/agriclimate-9edition-02oct19.pdf
- UK Government Agri-Climate Report – DEFRA https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/agri-climate-report-2021/agri-climate-report-2021
- Climate metrics for ruminant livestock – Oxford Martin School Briefing Paper https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/reports/Climate-metrics-for-ruminant-livestock.pdf
- Livestock Health and Greenhouse Gas emissions, Rapid Evidence Assessment https://www.climatexchange.org.uk/media/2031/livestock_health_and_ghg.pdf
- Delivering on NetZero: Scottish Agriculture, World Wildlife Fund Report 2019 https://www.wwf.org.uk/sites/default/files/2018-11/NetZeroReportART.pdf
- Non-CO2 abatement in the UK agricultural sector by 2050, SRUC Report for UKCCC https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/non-co2-abatement-in-the-uk-agricultural-sector-by-2050-scottish-rural-college/
- Marginal abatement Cost Curve for Scottish Agriculture – ClimateXChange https://www.climatexchange.org.uk/media/4612/cxc-marginal-abatement-cost-curve-for-scottish-agriculture-august-2020.pdf
- Livestock Health and Greenhouse Gases: ruminating on climate change https://sefari.scot/blog/2019/04/08/livestock-health-and-greenhouse-gases-ruminating-on-climate-change
- NFUS-SEFARI Fellowship, NFU Scotland https://www.nfus.org.uk/policy/environment-and-land-use/sefari-fellowship.aspx
- Breeding to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from beef cattle https://sefari.scot/research/breeding-to-reduce-methane-emissions-from-beef-cattle
- Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions associated with sustainable worm control in lambs https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/3/2/271
- Animal health and greenhouse gas intensity: the paradox of periparturient parasitism, International Journal for Parasitology https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28528874/
- UK Climate Change Committee – Land Use: Policies for a Net Zero UK https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/land-use-policies-for-a-net-zero-uk/
- DEFRA https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/666075/agriclimate-6edition-8dec17.pdf
- QMS https://www.qmscotland.co.uk/sites/default/files/qms_cattle_and_sheep_enterprise_profitability_2021_final.pdf