Friends of the Earth Welcomes Promising New World Bank Blueprint for Addressing Health and Environmental Impacts of Big Meat and Dairy, Issues Urgent Call for Action
WASHINGTON — Today, the World Bank released a new comprehensive blueprint for addressing the giant climate footprint of our industrial food system. The Bank’s new report, Recipe for a Livable Planet: Achieving Net ZeroEmissions in the Agrifood System, notes the significant health and environmental impacts and the outsized role that the meat and dairy industries play in driving emissions and outlines steps countries can take to shift subsidies and consumption of meat and dairy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve health outcomes.
Friends of the Earth, a founding member of the Stop Financing Factory Farming campaign, celebrates this positive shift in narrative and calls on the World Bank to align its actions with its words. Monique Mikhail, Campaigns Director of the Agriculture & Climate Finance Program with Friends of the Earth U.S., issued the following statement in response to the World Bank report:
“Today’s World Bank study shows important progress in the Bank’s recognition of the negative climate impacts of the global agrifood system and the need to dramatically reduce emissions from the sector. But governments and consumers aren’t the only ones that need to act. The World Bank, IFC, and other multilateral development banks and international financial institutions must direct their support towards transitioning to a just and sustainable global food system, beginning by halting their support for industrial livestock production. As the report indicates, continued financing of this highly polluting and climate-destructive industry undermines the SDGs and threatens to keep the goals of the Paris Agreement out of reach. It’s clear the World Bank knows this, and now it’s time for action. To pave the way for a livable planet, the world’s leading financial institutions must reassess their agricultural investments and immediately cease financing the expansion of factory farming.”
Communications contact: Holly Shulman, [email protected]