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Emissions from cattle farming in Brazil

Nature Climate Change volume 6, pages 893–894 (2016)Cite this article

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To the Editor

de Oliveira Silva and colleagues1 have proposed that, if decoupled from deforestation, increasing beef consumption may reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while at the same time suggesting that reducing consumption may not significantly alter greenhouse gas emissions. However, the analysis contains unrealistic assumptions and disregards a series of other analyses corroborated by historical data, affecting the robustness of the conclusions. Sustainable intensification is presented as a feasible socioecological solution, despite the fact that this concept is still a matter of controversy. At the most general level, it lacks any solid empirically based mechanism. More specifically, it fails to address equity and local governance aspects that ought to be inherent in its definition2.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Análise e Modelagem de Sistemas Ambientais/Centro de Sensoriamento Remoto, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-900, CEP, Brazil

    Fernando F. Goulart, Sonia Ribeiro Carvalho & Britaldo Soares-Filho

  2. School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 48109, Michigan, USA

    Ivette Perfecto

  3. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 48109, Michigan, USA

    John Vandermeer

  4. Union of Concerned Scientists, 1825 K Street, NW, 20006, Washington DC, USA

    Doug Boucher

  5. Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Minneapolis, 55404, Minnesota, USA

    M. Jahi Chappell

  6. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Ecologia Evolutiva & Biodiversidade/DBG, 30161-970, Belo Horizonte MG, Brazil

    Geraldo Wilson Fernandes

  7. Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology, Brasília, 70770-917, DF, Brazil

    Aldicir Scariot

  8. Universidade Federal de Grande Dourados, Faculdade de Ciências Agrária, Itahum, Postal code 533, Brazil

    Marcelo Corrêa da Silva

  9. Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade de Brasília, Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Brasília, 70910-900, Brazil

    Washington Oliveira & Mercedes Bustamante

  10. Department of Teaching and Learning, Washington State University Vancouver, Vancouver, 98686, Washington, USA

    Rebecca Neville

  11. School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University Vancouver, Vancouver, 98686, Washington, USA

    James Moore

Authors
  1. Fernando F. Goulart
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  2. Ivette Perfecto
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  3. John Vandermeer
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  4. Doug Boucher
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  5. M. Jahi Chappell
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  6. Geraldo Wilson Fernandes
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  7. Aldicir Scariot
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  8. Marcelo Corrêa da Silva
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  9. Washington Oliveira
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  10. Rebecca Neville
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  11. James Moore
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  12. Mercedes Bustamante
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  13. Sonia Ribeiro Carvalho
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  14. Britaldo Soares-Filho
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fernando F. Goulart.

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Goulart, F., Perfecto, I., Vandermeer, J. et al. Emissions from cattle farming in Brazil. Nature Clim Change 6, 893–894 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3123

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