Livestock contributes to climate change through the emission of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, which are potent greenhouse gases (GHGs). They are the largest source of methane emissions, a gas that has 34 times higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide as stated by theFood and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations。通过增加人口对动物蛋白质的需求不断增长，可能会进一步加剧牲畜的温室气体排放，这可能会对全球气候造成更大的压力。
The recent climate summit in New York and the global momentum for reducing GHG emissions to curb climate change by governments and communities worldwide are pointing towards comprehensive climate action. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggests reducing emissions from agriculture and land-use change bychanging dietsand another report advocates for减少对化石燃料的依赖。While there is a convincing case for reducing emissions by changing diets and by limiting supply-side fossil fuels, the livestock industry can play a major role in reducing global emissions. The role of livestock in addressing climate change so far has been overlooked.
IPCC和联合国食品和农业组织的温室气体会计准则包括肠发酵和肥料管理，以捕获牲畜部门的排放。但是，这些准则不包括与牲畜的整个价值链相关的排放，例如与动物饲料生产，土壤的排放，土地降解，饲料的运输，牲畜及其产品，加工，包装，包装和分配，消费，消费，消费，消费，消费，消费，消费，消耗，和在每个阶段产生的废物，如Dr Harpinder Sandhu和他的同事们new study出版于The Anthropocene Review。
联合国环境领导的另一项研究 - 农业和食品的生态系统和生物多样性的经济学（Teebagrifood）提倡对价值链的整体分析，以捕获食品系统的所有重大影响，以做出适当的政策响应。尽管Teebagrifood建议对食品系统进行全面评估，但IPCC和其他全球评估继续根据部分评估进行报告。尽管结果不支持牲畜行业，但联合国各种机构的态度仍然是一致的。根据一项研究, by Jeff Anhang, an environmental specialist at the World Bank Group, emissions from livestock are about 51 percent of the total global GHG emissions if the whole lifecycle is included and not 14.5 percent as estimated by the FAO. It is a matter of grave concern for the planet and people if there is an error in our calculations. A global consensus on livestock-related emissions is the need of the hour to correct GHG accounting and its implications for climate change policy. What if we have been underestimating total GHG emissions from the livestock sector? Therefore, there is a need to address discrepancies related to livestock-related GHG emissions. Correct estimation of all GHG emissions can help to know the full extent of impacts of the livestock industry on global climate change. So far none of the livestock environmental assessment models are being able to capture all emissions through the entire value chain. To comprehensively capture emissions from the livestock sector,a full-scale evaluation使用Teebagrifood框架可能会为牲畜行业和地球带来更好的结果。除了限制化石燃料外，管理牲畜还为减少全球温室气体排放提供了更好的选择。全球社区将能够通过修复牲畜排放指标来管理它可以准确衡量的内容。
