The link that too many ignore

The purpose of this post is to introduce the embedded presentation, “The link that too many ignore: Australian climate campaigners and the livestock sector”.

As mentioned in the presentation description, there are actually two links: firstly, the link between livestock production and climate change; and secondly, the link between the livestock sector and so-called environmentalists.

The second link may be related to the fact that Australia has the highest per capita meat consumption in the world.

The link between livestock production and climate change is widely understood and well documented. Yet many climate change campaigning organisations and individuals barely mention it, or seek to dispute it. It’s ironic that such people and groups complain that climate change denialists ignore the science of climate change, while they themselves ignore the science surrounding animal agriculture’s impacts.

Here is the presentation, followed by sources and image credits. This is an updated and expanded version as at 9 Sep 2016. (The original was published on 26th August 2016.)

I recommend you view it in full screen mode. Also, it is best to view it on a desktop or laptop, as the zooming effect may not work on a phone or tablet unless the “prezi” app has been installed.

Here’s a video version that should work on any device, although full screen mode is still recommended:

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An expanded version of the chart (released on 30th December 2018) can be seen in detail by clicking the image below.

Author

Paul Mahony (also on Twitter, Scribd, Slideshare, New Matilda, Rabble and Viva la Vegan)

Note

This author does not claim that the links referred to here have influenced any person or organisation, or that any person or organisation has sought to influence others, as I am not in a position to say.

Some Critical Omissions from Climate Change Discussions (The Greens)

Do the math: There are too many cows! (Bill McKibben, 350.org)

The real elephant in AYCC’s climate change room (Australian Youth Climate Coalition)

Emissions intensity of Australian beef (MLA-funded research)

Sources

ABC, 7.30, Reporter Sarah Dingle, “Purves throws weight behind climate science”, 22 Dec 2011, http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2011/s3396867.htm

ABC, “One Plus One” Video Interview, Amanda McKenzie, 19th January, 2016, updated 16th Feb 2016, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-05/one-plus-one-‘nature-plus-nurture’-summer-series:/7173224 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ruo6qJwKD7U

Australia Institute – About, http://www.tai.org.au/content/about (accessed 19th August 2016)

Australian Conservation Foundation, “ACF leads the environmental evolution”, https://www.acfonline.org.au/about-us/our-history/acf-leads-environmental-evolution (Accessed 19th August 2016)

Australian Conservation Foundation, “Find out how 60L was conceived”, https://www.acfonline.org.au/about-us/our-home-60l/find-out-how-60l-was-conceived (Accessed 19th August 2016)

Australian Conservation Foundation, 2009-10 Annual Report, https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/auscon/pages/520/attachments/original/1465183523/ACF_annual_report_2009-10.pdf?1465183523

Australian Youth Climate Coalition, “About AYCC”, http://www.aycc.org.au/about_aycc (Accessed 19th August 2016)

Beyond Zero Emissions and Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute of The University of Melbourne, “Zero Carbon Australia – Land Use: Agriculture and Forestry – Discussion Paper”, October, 2014, Executive Summary and pp. 97 and 168, http://bze.org.au/landuse

Boomerang Alliance, “Who we are”, http://www.boomerangalliance.org.au/who_we_are (accessed 22nd August 2016)

“Building our hopes and dreams: Australia’s building industry now has a superb green model to emulate–and there’s no reason why it can’t”, The Free Library. 2003 Australian Conservation Foundation 19 Aug. 2016 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Building+our+hopes+and+dreams%3a+Australia%27s+building+industry+now+has…-a098415135

Bush Telegraph, “Reduce livestock numbers by 20 per cent, revegetate 55.6 million hectares of land: climate change report proposes options to reach zero carbon target”, 24th Oct 2014, http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bushtelegraph/controversial-recommendations-dominate-zero-carbon-report/5838280

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Climate Council, “Climate Council Board Member, Rob Purves wins Australian Geographic Lifetime of Conservation Award”, 13th Nov 2015, https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/climate-council-board-member-rob-purves-wins-australian-geographic-lifetime-of-conservation-award

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The Climate Institute, “Towards Climate Friendly Farming”, Oct 2009, http://www.climateinstitute.org.au/verve/_resources/towards_climate_friendly_ag_discussion_paper.pdf and http://www.climateinstitute.org.au/articles/publications/towards-climate-friendly-farming.html

Davies, A., “Environmental philanthropist Rob Purves warns that green groups under attack”, The Sydney Morning Herald, 19th Sep 2015, http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/environmental-philanthropist-rob-purves-warns-that-green-groups-under-attack-20150917-gjpavd.html

Eckard, R., “Could your diet save the planet?”, The Conversation, 2nd Nov 2011, https://theconversation.com/could-your-diet-save-the-planet-3931

Eckard, R., “It’s not enough to go vegetarian to fight climate change”, The Conversation, 24th Feb 2015, https://theconversation.com/its-not-enough-to-go-vegetarian-to-fight-climate-change-37763

Farm Weekly, “Red meat: Amazing for youth”, 30th Sep 2010, http://www.farmweekly.com.au/news/agriculture/cattle/general-news/red-meat-amazing-for-youth/1956447.aspx

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Friends of the Earth Australia, Annual Report 2012-13, https://www.foe.org.au/sites/default/files/FOEA%20SOFT%20COPY%202013.pdf

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The Greens, “10 facts about Richard Di Natale”, 6th May 2015, http://greensmps.org.au/content/news-stories/10-facts-about-richard-di-natale

Griffiths, M., “Food production driving up greenhouse gas emissions”, ABC News, PM, 10th Mar 2016, http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2016/s4422796.htm

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McKibben, Bill, “The only way to have a cow”, Orion Magazine, Mar/Apr 2010, http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/5339/

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Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, Annual Report 2015, http://sustainable-dev.unimelb.edu.au/sites/default/files/docs/MSSI-Annual-Report-2015_web.pdf

Munro, K., “Climate warriors march behind little green book”, Sydney Morning Herald, 11 July 2009, http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/climate-warriors-march-behind-little-green-book-20090710-dg2t.html

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Images

AgriLife Today | Flickr | Brahman Cattle | Creative Commons | Attribution: NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic

Andrew Anderson | Flickr |Queens College – Melbourne University 2010| Creative Commons | Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

The Aspen Institute | Flickr | Bill McKibben talks about life on Earth | Creative Commons | Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

AusSMC-2009-Dec-11_IMG_0476 | Flickr | Professor Tim Flannery from Macquarie University and chair of the Copenhagen Climate Council with Amanda McKenzie from the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) at a http://www.planetcall.org event, COP15, Copenhagen 2009 | Creative Commons | Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic

Cow, cattle, livestock © Visuall2 | Dreamstime.com

Cows grazing © Ondrez | Dreamstime.com

Dairy Cows Photo © Nengloveyou | Dreamstime.com

Earth Hour | Flickr | Earth Hour Australia 2013, Sydney Opera House Lights On | Creative Commons | Attribution: NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

Environmental activists © Rrodrickbeiler | Dreamstime.com

Find an Expert – University of Melbourne | Richard Eckard | Creative Commons | Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)

Gavin Tapp | Flickr |Don Henry 2011 | Creative Commons | Attribution- 2.0 Generic

Greg Johnston | Flickr | The last straw| Creative Commons | Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic

Greens MPs | Flickr | Your Vote = Our Future, AYCC Youth Climate Summit | Creative Commons | Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic

Indigo Skies Photography | Golden Hour | Flickr | Attribution: NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Indigo Skies Photography | Misty | Flickr | Attribution: NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Indigo Skies Photography | Rural sunset scene | Flickr | Attribution: NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Jonathan Doig | 2500 people encircle Parliament House calling for action on the climate emergency (2009) | Flickr | Creative Commons | Attribution: 2.0 Generic

Koza1983 | PS20 and PS10 in Andalusia, Spain | Wikipedia | Creative Commons | Attribution: 3.0 Unported

KnitSpirit | Sheep | Flickr | Creative Commons | Attribution: NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic

Labour Youth | Flickr | Friends of the Earth | Creative Commons | Attribution: NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

McLac2000 | Pixabay

Mark A Coleman | Sheep | Flickr | Creative Commons | Attribution: ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

Marley Cook | Flickr | Amanda McKenzie (AYCC Co-Director) 2009 | Creative Commons | Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Micolo J | Flickr | Young cattle 2014 | Creative Commons | Attribution 2.0 Generic (Cropped and border removed)

National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) | Flickr | Lesley Hughes | Creative Commons | Attribution: NonCommercial 2.0 Generic

National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility | Flickr | NCCARF Welcome Reception 1.5 Tim Flannery | Creative Commons | Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic

Newtown grafitti | Flickr | Playing God with the climate, IV (Clive Hamilton) | Creative Commons | Attribution – 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Peter Thoeny – Quality HDR Photography | Flickr | Creative Commons | Nay for fossil fuel, yea for renewable energy (Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, Nevada)| Attribution: NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

Philip Morton | Flickr | Outback Sunrise | Creative Commons | Attribution: NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic

Pierre Pouliquin | Flickr | Three mousquetaires!! 2008 | Creative Commons | Attribution – NonCommercial 2.0 Generic

Stephen Hass | Power_Of_Great_Barrier_Reef_024 | Flickr | Creative Commons | Attribution: 2.0 Generic

skeeze | Pixabay.com | CC0 Public Domain

Takver | Flickr | Ban onshore gas, Grow renewables rally | Creative Commons | Attribution: ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

Takver | Flickr | Climate Emergency campaigner David Spratt | Creative Commons | Attribution: ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

Takver | Flickr | Replace Hazelwood | Creative Commons | Attribution: ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

Takver | Flickr | Replace Hazelwood – Victorian Parliament House steps | Creative Commons | Attribution: ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

Tony Webster | Wikimedia | Wind Energy | Creative Commons | Attribution: 2.0 Generic

theverb.org | Flickr | Anna Rose | Creative Commons | Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic

yassan-yukky | Flickr | Cooking | Creative Commons | Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic