Tackling methane through livestock in Asia and the Pacific

With climate change and population growth affecting production and demand for livestock products in Asia and the Pacific, countries in the region are now more committed than ever to make the livestock sector more sustainable and climate-friendly. To facilitate dialogue and create new synergies within the region, FAO organized the regional expert workshop on “Enhancing national climate actions to reduce methane emissions in livestock systems in Asia and the Pacific in the context of the Global Methane Pledge” in Bangkok, Thailand from 24 to 26 October 2022. This workshop provided a first-time opportunity for countries within the region to come together, discuss ways to reduce methane emissions from livestock systems and share experiences to make a sustainable transformation of the sector possible. “Reducing short-lived climate pollutants, in particular methane, is one of the fastest and most cost-effective strategies to reduce the rate of global warming and limit temperature rise to 1.5 °C”, said Martina Otto, Head of the Secretariat of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition during her opening remarks. The workshop brought together over 60 participants from 18 countries in Asia and the Pacific, including representatives from the livestock, agriculture, environment and climate change domains.

Sharing challenges and opportunities

During the three-day workshop, participants exchanged experiences and discussed challenges and opportunities to align their national climate actions with livestock development objectives and policies. “Mitigation of methane emissions in the livestock sector is still constrained by costs, diversity and complexity of agricultural systems, and increasing demand for livestock products,” said Gen Kunieda, Director of Environmental Affairs Office at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (MAFF). “Japan’s Sustainable Food Systems Strategy recently launched aims to achieve increased productivity, sustainability and decarbonisation through innovation”, he added. However, countries like Mongolia identified market access as one of the main challenges faced to implement their climate commitments.

Some good examples

Countries in Asia and the Pacific realised the importance of including specific interventions to tackle climate change through livestock in their national climate actions. Thailand, the hosting country of the workshop, is giving a positive example in the region and“is implementing long-term policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030”, said Wacharapon Chotiyaputta, Director of the Division of International Livestock Cooperation at the Thailand Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. “We need all the other countries in this region to commit, join forces and work for hand in hand to reduce methane emissions”, he stressed. Viet Nam has also developed a roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture by 31.8 percent by 2030. Similarly, the Australian government has committed to reducing emissions by 43 percent (from 2005 levels) by 2030, and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. On the other hand, the Australian private sector also joined the race to net zero with the commitments of the red meat sector to carbon neutrality by 2030 and the dairy sector to a 30 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Towards a sustainable transformation of livestock

Transforming livestock production is indispensable to driving positive changes and achieving the Paris Agreement’s goals. The challenge is not only to make livestock production climate-smart, sustainable and ecologically friendly but also to make it a crucial element to mitigate the damages that livestock have already made to the climate and the environment. “Probably the biggest challenge that we face with livestock production is to address the climate change issues associated with methane, carbon dioxide, and other negative images that livestock production carries. This is going to require a real transformation of the field”, said Scott Newman, Senior Animal Health Production Officer at the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. “We have different types of solutions that can allow livestock production to contribute to mitigation measures and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals”, he added.

Climate commitment in Asia and the Pacific

Many countries in the region are now considering livestock in their agricultural climate action. More than two-thirds of the countries in Asia and one-quarter of those in the Pacific included one or more livestock mitigation measures in their new and updated nationally determined contributions (NDCs). “FAO is conducting an in-depth analysis of new and updated NDC: 22 out of 25 Asian countries and 10 out of 16 countries in the Pacific have already submitted new and updated ambitious NDC. There is a strong need and interest in this region to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the livestock sector”, said Akiko Nagano, Programme Officer at the FAO Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment. More countries in Asia and the Pacific are joining the Global Methane Pledge, a global initiative launched during COP26 to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030. Australia, Bangladesh, and Mongolia joined the Pledge at the same time as the workshop.

About the workshop

The workshop took place before the COP27 from 24 to 26 October in Bangkok, Thailand and was part of a series of regional consultations on "Enhancing national climate actions on methane in the livestock sector" undertaken also in East Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. FAO lead the organization of the event with the financial support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery of Japan and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC). The event is organized under the CCAC-funded project “Creating the enabling environment for enhanced climate ambition and climate action through institutional capacity building” implemented by FAO, in collaboration with the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases, and the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Center.“This workshop will help countries to propose a new change in the livestock sector, as well as new policies. From small islands that are highly affected by climate change to big countries like Thailand, it is clear that solutions are possible”, said Aimable Uwizeye, Livestock Policy Officer at the FAO Animal Production and Health Division.