Dairy sector adds four per cent to man-made emissions - FAO

The dairy sector accounts for four per cent of global man-made greenhouse gas emissions, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said in a report.

The dairy sector emitted 1.969 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent in 2007, of which 1.328 billion tonnes were due to dairy production and 151 million tonnes to meat from culled dairy animals, the FAO said.

Global milk production, processing and transportation accounted for 2.7 per cent of the world man-made greenhouse gas emissions, the FAO said. The dairy sector could boost biogas output to cut emission of methane, which accounts for about 52 per cent of GHG emissions the sector produces, and carbon emissions could be captured if grassland management were improved, the FAO said.

Recommendations on how to cut GHG emissions from the dairy sector will come at a later stage, when the programme of biophysical and economic analysis of mitigation options is completed, the Rome-based agency said.