Linked to deforestation, food production in Brazil accounts for nearly 74% (73.7%) of the country's greenhouse gas emissions. Of this total, the majority (78%) is generated by the beef industry. This estimate was released on Tuesday (24) by the Climate Observatory.
It is the first time a study maps the greenhouse gas emissions from the entire food production chain in the country, calculating from the gases generated in clearing new land for planting to the fuel used in transportation and cooking, as well as the electricity used in supermarkets. Despite the complexity of food systems, the main culprit for its emissions is the same as the total emissions of the country: deforestation. This is because a significant portion of deforested areas are converted into pasture and cultivation.
Out of the total of 1.19 billion tons (or gigatons) of carbon emitted due to deforestation in Brazil in 2021, at least 1.01 billion is linked to food systems, with beef production alone accounting for 0.98 billion tons of carbon emitted due to deforestation. Overall, greenhouse gases generated by beef production in Brazil totaled 1.38 gigatons in 2021.
The study, part of the Seeg (Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimates System) of the Climate Observatory, considered emissions generated by deforestation for land conversion into agricultural areas and pastures, burning of vegetation residues, and organic carbon emissions from the soil after conversion to agricultural areas or pastures.