At COP30, Brazil tries to sell sceptics on 'low-carbon beef'

Brazil's meat industry is mounting a campaign to convince the world it can produce beef with low carbon emissions — a claim that some experts say obscures beef's heavy toll on the climate.

- DAYANNE SOUSA

At the COP30 climate summit in the Amazonian region, ranchers, government-backed scientists, and major meatpackers are offering a new storyline for an old staple. They argue that with careful management, the same fields where cattle graze can pull carbon from the air, countering the environmental damage from the methane those animals release.

The sector planned a series of events in Belém to make its case. On Wednesday, lobby group Abiec released a study on reducing emissions from cattle farming inside the summit’s Agrizone Pavilion, a specially dedicated area at COP30.

Meanwhile, pasture carbon-capture trials of farming group Roncador were being showcased in a prominent booth. Later in the week, the state-owned agricultural research company Embrapa was to unveil a manual outlining the steps producers must take to qualify for a “low-carbon” label.

“What we have in our hands is a plan for how Brazil can make its beef sector reach its full potential to contribute to the climate agenda,” said Fernando Sampaio, sustainability director at Abiec.

Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of beef, and agriculture is a pillar of the economy. But the industry faces intense international scrutiny for its hefty carbon footprint and role in deforestation.

Cows burp out large amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas that's far more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term. That makes beef far more polluting than other sources of protein. A 2018 Science study found that producing one kilogram of beef generates roughly 100 kgs of greenhouse gases — about eight times more than pork and 20 times more than eggs.