Ambition Meets Reality: Achieving GHG Emission Reduction Targets in the Livestock Sector of Latin America

ARANGO, JACOBO; RUDEN, ALEJANDRO; MARTINEZ-BARON, DEISSY; LOBOGUERRERO, ANA MARÍA; BERNDT, ALEXANDRE; CHACÓN, MAURICIO; TORRES, CARLOS FELIPE; OYHANTCABAL, WALTER; GOMEZ, CARLOS A.; RICCI, PATRICIA; KU-VERA, JUAN; BURKART, STEFAN; MOORBY, JON M.; CHIRINDA, NGONIDZASHE

Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

Frontiers Media SA

Año: 2020 vol. 4 p. 1 - 9

Livestock production is a very relevant source of income and agricultural greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions in Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Mexico, and Peru.Severalmanagement and technological options with entericmethanemitigation potentialhave been evaluated and their scaling is anticipated to contribute toward achieving GHGemission reduction targets in the framework of the Paris Agreement. Yet, widespreadadoption of promising mitigation options remains limited, raising questions as to whetherenvisaged emission reduction targets are achievable. Using findings from local studies,we explore the mitigation potentials of technologies and management practices currentlyproposed to mitigate enteric methane emissions from cattle production systems inthe higher emitting countries of Latin America. We then discuss barriers for adoptinginnovations that significantly reduce cattle-based enteric methane emissions and themajor shifts in policy and practice that are needed to raise national ambitions in thehigh emitting countries. Using the latest science and current thinking, we provide ourperspective on an inclusive approach and re-imagine how the academic, research,business and public policy sectors can support and incentivize the changes needed toraise the level of ambition and achieve sustainable development goals (SDG), consideringactions from the farm to the national scale.