The significant contribution of animal agriculture to greenhouse gas emissions connects environmental and animal welfare concerns — making climate action and animal welfare mutually reinforcing.
The climate impacts of animal agriculture and the welfare impacts of animal agriculture arise from the same source: the scale and intensity of farmed animal production. Reducing animal product consumption reduces both greenhouse gas emissions and the number of animals raised in welfare-compromising systems. Climate advocates who focus on food system transformation and animal welfare advocates who focus on reducing farmed animal suffering are working on the same problem. The most effective interventions — reducing beef and dairy consumption, supporting alternative proteins, improving production efficiency — address both climate and welfare simultaneously. This alignment makes animal welfare an unusually tractable target for environmental advocates.