Climate agreement offers opportunities for livestock farmers

Since Trump announced his withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, the rest of the world seems to be much more determined to work on the climate commitments made in Paris in December 2015. What opportunities does this offer livestock farming?

It is also striking that at the start of the formation period in the Netherlands, not only civil society organizations and scientists but also many leading parties from the business community publicly declared themselves in favor of a robust climate policy. The central message is that an ambitious climate policy offers great opportunities for a highly developed economy such as the Netherlands, provided the government provides clarity about the course to be followed for the medium and long term.

Thinking from opportunities
When it comes to the implementation of the climate agreements for Dutch livestock farming, various parties suddenly think much less in terms of opportunities. It then seems – if you are to believe some politicians and NGOs – that climate policy should be equated with a reduction in livestock in the Netherlands and that's it. However, this is a gross simplification that can not only cause major economic damage, but is also unwise in terms of impact on the climate. 

• In few other countries, for example, the emission of greenhouse gases per liter of milk is lower than in the Netherlands with 13 grams of methane (1,24 kilos of CO2 equivalent). In the rest of the world, average emissions are almost twice as high with 2,4 kilos of CO2 equivalent† If we reduce the livestock population in the Netherlands by more than 500.000 cows, as Milieudefensie recently advocated on the basis of a poorly received report by the Louis Bolk Institute1, this means that the cows will then be kept elsewhere. It remains to be seen whether the relatively low Dutch emissions of greenhouse gases per liter of milk will be achieved there. 
• From the top sector Agro&Food it is indicated that this also applies to other sectors: 1 hectare of arable farming here means 4 hectares elsewhere. For horticulture, 1 hectare even means 10 hectares elsewhere. In livestock farming, every animal less in the Netherlands means that 2 to 3 more are kept elsewhere. Dutch agro & food production is so efficient that for many it is a model for future food production. EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan also speaks positively about this publicly. 

Efficiency in the chain
The Paris climate agreement offers opportunities for Dutch livestock farming. Due to, among other things, the great efficiency in the chain, the enormous use of co-products from the Dutch food industry for animal feed, modern barn systems and the use of sustainable soy in animal feeds in which the Netherlands is an absolute frontrunner, Dutch meat, dairy and eggs have a relatively favorable CO2 footprint. .

Be transparent
My appeal to the entire animal supply chain is to be completely transparent about its CO2 footprint and to work on further reductions from there. That this is necessary is indisputable given the ambitions of Paris. Fortunately, there are still many options for reducing the CO2 footprint, such as the large-scale use of low-emission feed, the production of renewable energy, and the development of integrated sustainable barns.

Contribute
As the Dutch animal feed industry, we would like to contribute to the Paris Agreement. For example, we are working hard on continuously reducing the environmental footprint of our animal feed raw materials, increasing feed efficiency, ensuring further annual energy savings in our compound feed factories and developing new animal feed concepts that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Henk Flipsen

Henk Flipsen has been the director and figurehead of Nevedi since 2007. He grew up on his parents' closed pig farm and also fulfills several managerial positions in the Agro & Food chains. † Photo: Nevedic

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