# Beef: Emissions

Why beef tops the charts for food emissions

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/beef/emissions/

What this tab covers The greenhouse-gas footprint of the commodity at a global level, split by lifecycle phase: extraction (or farming), refining and processing, movement, usage, and recycling or end of life. Intensities are per unit of product; the global total combines intensity with world output. Also covers other environmental impacts and the main levers to cut emissions. Emission intensity 99.5 kg CO2e per kg range about 60 (median-type value) to 99.5 (global mean); beef from dairy herds 33.3 · cradle-to-retail global mean across about 570 studies, including land-use change Global emissions per year 2,900 Mt CO2e per year 2005 · published total for beef supply chains (41% of livestock emissions); cattle meat and milk together were about 3.8 Gt in 2015

Per kg of beef from dedicated beef herds, retail weight; cradle-to-retail (farm to shop shelf, excludes household use). Intensity: Poore & Nemecek 2018 (Science), via Our World in Data. Global total: FAO 2013, Tackling climate change through livestock (GLEAM, ref. year 2005); FAO 2023, Pathways towards lower emissions (GLEAM 3, ref. year 2015).

#### Share of footprint by lifecycle phase
 Extraction 96% Refining / processing 3% Movement 1%

#### Footprint by lifecycle phase

| Phase | Intensity | Share | Main sources of emissions | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Extraction** | about 57.6 kg CO2e/kg (land-use change 16.3, on-farm 39.4, feed 1.9) | 96% | enteric methane from rumen fermentation, pasture expansion into forest, manure N2O, feed crops | Enteric fermentation is 46% of all livestock emissions. Grass-fed beef on cleared land has the highest footprint; intensive systems in North America have lower intensity per kg. | OWID 2020 supply-chain chart from Poore & Nemecek 2018 (indicative); FAO 2023, Pathways towards lower emissions (GLEAM 3, ref. year 2015) |
| **Refining / processing** | about 1.7 kg CO2e/kg (slaughter and processing 1.3, packaging 0.4) | 3% | electricity and heat for slaughter, chilling and freezing, packaging film | Rendering of tallow, bone and blood recovers value and avoids waste. | OWID 2020 supply-chain chart from Poore & Nemecek 2018 (indicative) |
| **Movement** | about 0.5 kg CO2e/kg (transport 0.3, retail 0.2) | 1% | refrigerated trucks and reefer ships, retail chilling | Even chilled beef shipped from Brazil or Australia adds little, because the farm stage is so large. Transport is about 5% of food emissions overall. | OWID 2020 supply-chain chart from Poore & Nemecek 2018 (indicative); OWID FAQ on food impacts |
| **Usage** | not quantified in this boundary | – | home refrigeration and cooking energy; food waste | Every kilo wasted carries its full farm footprint. About 19% of food available to consumers was wasted in 2022. | UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 (indicative) |
| **Recycling / end of life** | not applicable as a product; by-products recovered | – | rendering, hides to leather, food waste to landfill or digesters | Meat is not recycled. Food waste sent to landfill releases methane; anaerobic digestion or composting avoids most of it. | qualitative |

#### Other environmental impacts

Beef is the leading driver of deforestation among farm products, mainly in the Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado; pasture expansion was 9.3% of livestock emissions in 2015 (FAO 2023). Beef also uses the most land per kg of protein of any common food (Poore & Nemecek 2018).

#### Levers to cut emissions

- Feed additive 3-NOP cut methane production by about 33% in trials at 70.5 mg/kg of feed dry matter (FAO 2023).
- Selective breeding for low feed intake can cut methane 11-26% within 10 years (FAO 2023).
- Productivity gains could offset about 24% of business-as-usual livestock emissions by 2050 (FAO 2023).
- Deforestation-free sourcing: the EU deforestation regulation covers beef imports from 30 December 2026.
- Using beef from dairy herds, at 33 kg CO2e/kg against 99.5 for beef herds, lowers the footprint per kg (Poore & Nemecek 2018).

#### India

India's bovine meat is buffalo meat from the dairy herd, so most herd emissions are allocated to milk and the meat carries a lower share than beef-herd beef. India holds the world's largest bovine herd (195 million cattle and 112 million buffalo in 2024, FAOSTAT), and enteric fermentation is the largest source in India's agriculture emissions inventory (India BUR-3, 2021, indicative).
 Emission figures are indicative global averages from the life-cycle studies named; actual footprints vary widely by site, energy mix and method.

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/beef/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/beef/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/beef/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/beef/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/beef/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/beef/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/beef/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/beef/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/beef/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/beef/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/beef/characteristics/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/beef/links/index.md)