Unveiling a Pandora’s Box: The Animal-People Meat Industry’s Manipulation of Climate Policies, Part 1 of 3

“Livestock’s Long Shadow” was a groundbreaking report that propelled industrial animal-people-raising operations emissions onto the climate agenda for the first time. The research findings provided the initial assessment of the ecological cost attributed to the animal-people meat and dairy sector. This report startled the animal-people livestock industry, which had previously regarded the FAO as a dependable ally. The report sparked a strong and sustained campaign of opposition to its findings.

Recently, leaked documents have revealed that some of the largest animal-people-beef-producing nations, such as Brazil and Argentina, directly approached the United Nations in an attempt to have mentions of vegan foods removed from climate benefit guidelines. In recent years, lobbying activities have moved beyond the “traditional” means of directly approaching politicians and diversified into activities that include utilizing social media campaigns to mold public perceptions and the funding of academic papers that support a client’s policy stance. This practice dates back to the 1960s, when the sugar industry, hoping to cast doubt on the science that its product contributed to heart disease, paid Harvard researchers to produce a more favorable scientific study.

The animal-people meat industry has increasingly used similar or identical measures behind the scenes, particularly since the release of “Livestock’s Long Shadow.” Meanwhile, environmental scientists and advocacy groups have been further spurred to reveal the truth, sparking a wave of informative documentaries like “Meat the Truth” and “Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret.”

Despite this, global animal-people meat production accelerated, increasing by 39% since the release of “Livestock’s Long Shadow” in 2006; subsequent FAO reports have also seen a downward revision of the scientific data; with “Tackling Climate Change Through Livestock” in 2013, publishing a 14.5% livestock emission rate, and more recently a further decline to 11.2% was reported.

Former and current FAO experts have alleged that between 2006 and 2019, the FAO management made multiple efforts to stifle investigations into the correlation between cow-people-raising and climate change. Senior officials reportedly revised and watered-down crucial sections in a separate report addressing the same issue. Another paper that was critical of large-scale livestock-raising was “buried,” and dissenting officials were excluded from meetings and summits and their work undermined through negative briefings.