Environmental Cost of Livestock in Brazil 20 Times Higher Than Revenue

Another report points to the devastating environmental and economic impact that livestock can have. We have previously reported on FAIRR (Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return), and now some fresh data corroborates the view that livestock is bad business, in more ways than one.

According to study presented by Conselho Empresarial Brasileiro para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável (CEBDS), a Brazilian agency dedicated to sustainable development, in collaboration with the German Agency of International Cooperation (GIZ), for every R$1 million (US$244,000) of turnover from bovine livestock in Brazil, an equivalent loss of R$22 million (US$5.36 million) is generated in environmental damages, caused mainly by deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions.

The study highlights clearly that when such losses are factored in, bovine livestock is unfeasible. CEDBS’s CEO Marina Grossi told Brazil’s O Globo daily newspaper that the objective of the study is to provide loaning guidelines for banks and other financing institutions. She quotes the country’s Central Bank’s resolution 4.327 that says the responsibility of environmental risk falls on both those who cause the problem and those who finance it.

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Image credit: WWF