{"id":354638,"date":"2026-07-08T07:04:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T07:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/agriculture\/open-letter-on-the-importance-of-addressing-methane-from-industrially-farmed-animals-to-help-slow-global-warming-and-build-farm-resilience\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T07:04:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T07:04:14","slug":"open-letter-on-the-importance-of-addressing-methane-from-industrially-farmed-animals-to-help-slow-global-warming-and-build-farm-resilience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=354638","title":{"rendered":"Open letter on the importance of addressing methane from industrially farmed animals to help slow global warming and build farm resilience"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The following open letter was delivered on June 30, 2026 to European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen, in addition to Executive Vice-President, Teresa Ribera; Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth, Wopke Hoekstra; DG CLIMA Director General, Kurt Vandenberghe; DG AGRI Director General, Elisabeth Werner<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Download a PDF of this letter.<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n

Dear\u00a0Commissioner\u00a0Hansen<\/p>\n

As Europe suffers under its second dangerous heatwave of the summer, we, the undersigned organizations, are writing to you with\u00a0growing\u00a0alarm\u00a0that\u00a0the\u00a0EU\u2019s\u00a0forthcoming Livestock Strategy will fail to grapple with the scale of animal farming\u2019s contribution to global warming, nor adequately provide farmers with the options and support needed to transition away from industrial livestock production or diversify their farms.<\/p>\n

Methane is a super heating greenhouse gas. Global agriculture production has caused\u00a040%\u00a0of\u00a0present-day\u00a0global\u00a0warming\u00a0from\u00a0all\u00a0methane<\/a>,\u00a0about\u00a00.2\u00b0C.\u00a0This\u00a0warming\u00a0is\u00a0on\u00a0par with the contribution from fossil methane (see Annex).<\/p>\n

In the EU,\u00a0close to 60% of all methane pollution<\/a>\u00a0comes from raising farmed animals, 77% of that is from cattle.<\/p>\n

Methane heats\u00a0our planet\u00a080x more<\/a>\u00a0than CO2\u00a0on\u00a0a\u00a0twenty-year time horizon.\u00a0The next twenty years matter: cutting methane pollution\u00a0now\u00a0is\u00a0one\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0fastest\u00a0ways\u00a0to\u00a0slow\u00a0near-term warming and limit how hot it ultimately gets. This is essential to better ensure food security and resilient agricultural production in the EU.<\/p>\n

Media\u00a0reports<\/a>\u00a0that the Commission\u00a0proposes\u00a0to\u00a0treat\u00a0biogenic\u00a0methane\u00a0from agriculture differently to fossil methane are concerning.\u00a0Methane\u00a0is\u00a0a\u00a0super\u00a0heating\u00a0greenhouse\u00a0gas, regardless of its source.<\/p>\n

Attempting\u00a0to\u00a0distract\u00a0from\u00a0livestock\u00a0methane\u2019s\u00a0real-world\u00a0impacts\u00a0on\u00a0the\u00a0temperature\u00a0of our planet does not help farmers to transition to resilient, climate-proof farms. A point\u00a0scientists<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0civil society<\/a>\u00a0have made repeatedly.<\/p>\n

Animal farming in Europe is diverse, but that diversity should not be used to distract attention from methane reductions. First and\u00a0foremost,\u00a0effective\u00a0methane\u00a0reductions should focus on high-density areas and rebalancing\u00a0animal levels to what\u00a0nature and the climate can support.<\/p>\n

To\u00a0help\u00a0farmers\u00a0plan\u00a0for\u00a0the\u00a0future\u00a0and\u00a0transition\u00a0to\u00a0farming\u00a0practices\u00a0consistent\u00a0with climate limits, the Livestock Strategy should:<\/p>\n