World Environment Day: what does cattle ranching have to do with it?

June 5, World Environment Day — created by the UN in 1972 during the Stockholm Conference — invites governments, companies and citizens to discuss the planet’s environmental challenges. In this context, cattle ranching almost always appears in the conversation as one of the most impactful activities. And indeed, the sector carries significant weight in Brazil’s emissions balance and in land use. But reducing the debate to a generic sentence that “livestock is polluting” ignores a fundamental distinction established by science: the environmental impact of livestock is not fixed. It depends on the production model.

The sector in the climate debate

Livestock now occupies a prominent position in environmental discussions in Brazil. Studies and emissions inventories point out that the sector brings together impacts related both to deforestation and land-use change and to enteric methane emissions from herds and the energy consumption of the production chain. In this context, the debate has moved beyond simply “livestock versus the environment” and has begun to consider an increasingly relevant variable: the production model adopted. Studies indicate that practices such as pasture recovery, adjustment of stocking rates and integrated systems can reduce emissions and increase soil carbon sequestration.

Data from the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimates System (SEEG), of the Climate Observatory, show that agriculture and livestock accounted for 29% of Brazil’s gross emissions in 2024, while land-use change represented 42%. The reduction of deforestation was, in fact, the main factor behind the 16.7% drop in national emissions over the period. 

Another relevant source is enteric methane, a gas produced during ruminant digestion. Here, the production model makes all the difference. Research by Embrapa shows that even in biomes dominated by extensive systems, such as the Pantanal, Caatinga and Pampa, if management is adequate, studies indicate that carbon is sequestered over the years. Methane emissions can decrease by matching the number of animals to pasture availability. And on well-managed pastures, the vegetation cover, which keeps the soil alive and organic matter forming, acts as a carbon sink, offsetting part of the animals’ emissions.

ILPF: when livestock starts sequestering more than it emits

The Crop-Livestock-Forest Integration (ILPF) combines crops, pasture and forest on the same area in rotation, integrating different production cycles to improve soil fertility, increase biodiversity, raise productivity per hectare and reduce the pressure to clear new land. According to the ILPF Network, a public-private association that brings together Embrapa, cooperatives and agribusiness companies, about 17 million hectares already adopt some integration system in Brazil. The federal government’s ABC+ Plan target is to reach 10.1 million hectares with ILPF by 2030.

One of the most significant advances in recent Brazilian agricultural research is the demonstration that livestock can, under certain practices, have a net negative carbon balance — that is, sequester more than it emits. A study carried out in the country’s largest Crop-Livestock-Forest Integration (ILPF) experiment, conducted by Embrapa Agrossilvipastoril (MT), measured the equivalent carbon balance of four production systems over four years. In all of them, sequestration exceeded emissions. The Livestock-Forest Integration (IPF) system had the largest positive balance: 51.3 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per hectare. The full ILPF system sequestered 39.5 tCO₂eq/ha. Even conventional livestock, under the controlled conditions of the experiment, had a positive balance.

The results reinforce an important shift in the environmental discussion about the sector: beyond reducing impacts, certain production models can increase carbon stocks in soil and vegetation, especially when associated with pasture recovery and maintenance of vegetation cover.

Degraded pastures: the liability and the opportunity

A publication by Agência Gov, data from Embrapa and the World Bank indicate that of Brazil’s 160 million hectares of pasture, about 35 million are in severe degradation, with loss of vegetation cover, low productivity and greater vulnerability to erosion. Degraded pastures emit more carbon, have lower sequestration capacity and lower productivity per animal, which leads producers to use more land to maintain the same production volume, and also results in longer finishing times for cattle, which further increases methane emissions.

Recovering these areas is one of the strategies with the greatest potential for positive impact. According to Embrapa, recovered pastures can sequester more than 1.0 to 1.5 tonnes of carbon per hectare per year, in addition to providing faster animal finishing and higher productivity per area. A study by Lapig/UFG commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture showed that between 2010 and 2018 Brazil recovered 26.8 million hectares of degraded pastures — a figure higher than the 15 million hectare target set by the ABC Plan. The total area with severely degraded pastures fell from 34.3% to 25.2% over the period.

From farm to industry: the production model as the decisive variable

The environmental impact of a kilo of meat is not the same on every farm. It varies according to herd genetics, pasture quality, slaughter age, the use or not of integrated systems and the presence or absence of forest cover. This variation is documented and can be measured.

In carbon measurement projects developed in partnership with Embrapa and Imaflora, Minerva Foods evaluated 22 supplier farms in Brazil, representing 70,000 hectares and more than 250,000 head of cattle. The result: 95% of the farms had emissions below the national average and ten were carbon negative. The company reduced the average slaughter age by 10 to 12 months compared to the national average, which results in less time of methane emissions per animal.

These practices are formalized in the Renove Program, a Minerva Foods initiative that supports producers in adopting low-carbon technologies, pasture rotation, semi-confinement, ILPF, genetic improvement, and certifies participating farms’ carbon balance with third-party verification aligned with the GHG Protocol and IPCC Guidelines. In 2023, the company also launched the Zero Carbon Impact Line, with products from farms without deforestation in the last 20 years that use carbon credits to offset emissions across the production process, as reported in the 2023 Sustainability Report.

The environment is about the “how”, not just the “what”

The right question is not “livestock or environment?” It is “what kind of livestock?” An activity that clears forests, leaves soil exposed and keeps animals on degraded pastures has a real and significant environmental impact. But an activity that recovers pastures, adopts integrated systems, reduces slaughter age and maintains forest cover can, at the same time, produce food and contribute to carbon sequestration. Science has already shown that this combination is possible. The challenge now is scale: making this model accessible to the majority of producers, especially small and medium ones, and ensuring that public policies, credit lines and international market demand consistently point in this direction. In this context, programs like Renove, from Minerva Foods, seek to encourage the adoption of low-carbon practices by rural producers, with technical support aimed at pasture recovery, integration of production systems and improved production efficiency. 

On World Environment Day, recognizing this path is not absolving livestock of its responsibilities. It is betting that the transition is possible and that it has already begun.

Reference links

• Agência Gov/EBC – Embrapa and the World Bank discuss strategies for sustainable use of degraded pastures (2023)
  
• Embrapa Agrossilvipastoril – ILPF systems mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in the Amazon biome (2023)
  
• Embrapa – A new look at emissions from Brazilian livestock
  
• Embrapa/ATERmais Digital – Recovery of degraded pastures: a strategy to reduce GHG emissions
  
• Minerva Foods – Renove Program
  
• Minerva Foods – 2023 Sustainability Report
  
• Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock – Study shows reduction of 26.8 million hectares of degraded pastures in areas that adopted the ABC Plan (2020)
  
• My Minerva / ILPF Network – ILPF is a strategy to reduce emissions in agriculture and expand Brazilian access to the carbon market
  
• Climate Observatory/SEEG – Brazil’s emissions see the largest drop in 16 years (2025)
  
• UNEP – World Environment Day 2025 mobilizes commitments and actions to end plastic pollution