PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Livestock Industry: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (19 April 2017)

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the proportion of UK greenhouse gas emissions that come from livestock production (a) directly and (b) taking into account emissions from livestock feed from (i) inside and (ii) outside the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Asked by:
Kerry McCarthy (Labour)

The UK national inventory of greenhouse gases (GHG) reports emissions of 49.2 million tonnes from agriculture in 2014, the most recent year for which data is available. This represents around 9% of total UK GHG emissions. Of these, around 63% come from livestock and their manures.

Imported feeds such as soya meal can have significant environmental impacts. Defra has conducted research on home grown alternatives to imported feeds and continues to work with industry to reduce these impacts.

Industry is making progress to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from livestock production. For example, the British pig industry reduced emissions by 26% in the period 2008 to 2012, mainly due to a 50% reduction in the use of soya in pig feeds.

Answered by:
George Eustice (Conservative)
26 April 2017