A global strategy to mitigate the environmental impact of China’s ruminant consumption boom

Yuanyuan Du, Ying Ge, Yuan Ren, Xing Fan, Kaixuan Pan, Linshan Lin, Xu Wu, Yong Min, Laura A. Meyerson, Mikko Heino, Scott X. Chang, Xiaozi Liu, Feng Mao, Guofu Yang, Changhui Peng, Zelong Qu, Jie Chang () and Raphael K. Didham ()
Additional contact information
Yuanyuan Du: Zhejiang University
Ying Ge: Zhejiang University
Yuan Ren: Zhejiang University
Xing Fan: Zhejiang University
Kaixuan Pan: Zhejiang University
Linshan Lin: Zhejiang University
Xu Wu: Zhejiang University
Yong Min: Zhejiang University of Technology
Laura A. Meyerson: University of Rhode Island
Mikko Heino: University of Bergen
Scott X. Chang: University of Alberta
Xiaozi Liu: Academia Sinica
Feng Mao: University of Birmingham
Guofu Yang: Zhejiang University
Changhui Peng: University of Quebec at Montreal
Zelong Qu: Zhejiang University
Jie Chang: Zhejiang University
Raphael K. Didham: The University of Western Australia

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Rising demand for ruminant meat and dairy products in developing countries is expected to double anthropogenic greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions from livestock by 2050. Mitigation strategies are urgently needed to meet demand while minimizing environmental impacts. Here, we develop scenarios for mitigating emissions under local vs global supply policies using data from 308 livestock farms across mainland China, where emissions intensities are ~50% higher than those in developed nations. Intensification of domestic production and globalized expansion through increased trade result in reductions in global emissions by nearly 30% over a business-as-usual scenario, but at the expense of trading partners absorbing the associated negative externalities of environmental degradation. Only adoption of a mixed strategy combining global best-practice in sustainable intensification of domestic production, with increased green-source trading as a short-term coping strategy, can meet 2050 demand while minimizing the local and global environmental footprint of China’s ruminant consumption boom.

Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-06381-0 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-06381-0

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06381-0

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().