Four measures to put livestock farming back at the heart of the climate challenge

The Climate and Resilience Act is currently being debated in the National Assembly. It follows on from the work of the Citizens' Climate Convention set up to combat global warming, and contains a section on food. However, CIWF claims that "the subject of livestock farming has been set aside by the government". This is why "the NGO proposes four concrete measures to be integrated into the "Food" section" in order to "fight against intensive livestock farming and protect the health of all and our environment. "

 

According to CIWF France, the text of the Climate and Resilience Act currently being debated in the National Assembly was "a disappointment" "as soon as it was presented to the Council of Ministers last February, as it did not propose any truly effective measures. "Indeed, "the subject of livestock farming was put aside by the government" even though "livestock farming is at the heart of climate issues. Its impact on global warming is worldwide. "

 

While the NGO warns of the harmfulness of certain industrialised livestock farming systems, it recognises that "some livestock farming systems can nevertheless have positive impacts, particularly on biodiversity and the storage of carbon in the soil. We need to move away from a binary vision of 'for or against livestock farming' or 'for or against meat' and ask ourselves what kind of livestock farming system we want.

 

For CIWF, "the Climate and Resilience Bill was an opportunity to put livestock farming at the heart of climate issues" but "nothing has been put in place in this sense". This is why the NGO proposes to integrate "in the "Food" section of the law four measures contributing to reducing the ecological footprint of livestock farming by reducing the production of intensive livestock farms, supporting the maintenance of more virtuous livestock farms and the transition of diets towards less meat-based diets".

 

The parliamentarians are thus called upon to:

 

            ▪ "consistency: increase the share of products from agroecological livestock farms in collective catering (exclude the most intensive livestock productions from the 50% of sustainable products, integrate a minimum share of animal products in sustainable products)" ;

            ▪ "transparency: experimenting with labelling of production methods for livestock products (on the model of what exists for eggs, the consumer will be able to make informed choices when buying and become an actor in the transition of livestock farming)";

            ▪ "responsibility: progressively ban the worst farming systems and subsidise only good practices (eventually ban the rearing of hens in cages, as well as similar production systems in other productions, and subsidise agroecological and animal welfare-friendly practices)";

            ▪ "real support for the population: encourage the reduction of animal protein consumption (introduce a 20% reduction target for consumption of products from livestock farming in 2030, strengthen the measure relating to vegetarian menus in canteens, making the alternative daily from 2025 onwards, or twice weekly for canteens without an option)".