IFIF joined partners from the meat and livestock chain in Paris to highlight industry’s key priorities to continue reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving environmental performance.
Dec 2, 2015
Paris – IFIF joined partners from the meat and livestock chain in Paris to highlight industry’s key priorities to continue reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving environmental performance at an event organised by the International Meat Secretariat (IMS) alongside the COP21 climate change summit.
An international panel of speakers highlighted that GHG emissions per kg of meat produced have been steadily reducing over the years through the adoption of innovative health and husbandry practices and tools that support sustainable and environmentally responsible production of animal protein, utilizing less resources and resulting in less environmental impact. With a view to keeping an open and balanced discussion that promotes further progress in sustainability, the panellists highlighted the many positive elements livestock farming holds as regards land use, resource efficiency and food production:
- Livestock uses mainly land not suited for crops and for which there is no other productive use;
- Livestock are efficient recyclers, transforming 80% of all feed that is not edible, such as grass, biomass, crop residues and by-products, into high-value nutritious animal protein;
- Livestock produce important by-products including power, fibre, medicines, slurry for biogas, and manure to maintain soil fertility, reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers;
- Livestock are necessary for food and nutrition security and diversity to diets;
- Livestock help address the multiple challenges of malnutrition, which include wasting, stunting, obesity, and anaemia in women of reproductive age.
Representing IFIF, FEFAC Secretary General Alexander Döring, elaborated on the feed industry’s contribution to the development of horizontal methodologies that help to calculate the environmental footprint of feed used in livestock farming. Mr. Döring said “This development is seen as a pre-requisite to come to even more precise emission mitigation strategies in the production of animal products. On an international level, FEFAC contributes to the Global Feed LCA Institute, which aims to provide a public database for feed ingredients, and the FAO-coordinated LEAP Partnership.”
Mr Döring added that at “EU level, FEFAC and several of its member associations take part in the Feed Pilot of the PEF (Product Environmental Footprint). The development of the PEF is one of the most important elements of the EU’s strategy to create a future single market for green products with guaranteed trustworthy and transparent communication on environmental performance.”
About IFIF
The International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF) is made up of national and regional feed associations, feed related organizations, and corporate members from around the globe, representing over 80% of the feed production worldwide. IFIF provides provide a unified voice and leadership to represent and promote the global feed industry as an essential participant in the food chain that provides sustainable, safe, nutritious and affordable food for a growing world population. For more information on IFIF please visit www.ifif.org or contact Alexandra de Athayde, Executive Director, at info@ifif.org.
Issued by: IFIF
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