Australian red meat industry's net zero target based on land-clearing data that is 'not reliable'

Source: The Guardian

Australian red meat industry’s net zero target based on land-clearing data that is ‘not reliable’

Meat and Livestock Australia says it has reduced emissions by 65% on 2005 levels but analysis of land-clearing data suggests figures underpinning claim are ‘erroneous’

Aston Brown
Mon 12 Feb 2024 14.00 GMT

Greenhouse gas reduction figures celebrated by Australia’s red meat industry are based on unreliable land-clearing data and could be erroneous, an independent analysis has found.

In Queensland, where roughly 44% of the national cattle herd grazes and the majority of land clearing has occurred, the Statewide Landcover and Tree Study (Slats) has recorded deforestation at almost twice the rate of the national system used to calculate emissions on the red meat industry.

In an analysis of both systems, Martin Taylor, a former conservation scientist with WWF Australia and now adjunct senior lecturer at the University of Queensland, found the national carbon accounting system (NCAS) may be significantly underreporting deforestation in the state.

“It’s good Meat and Livestock Australia is attempting to reduce their emissions but it has to be based on reliable data,” Taylor said. “We can’t be building stories on data that analysis suggests is erroneous.”

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/feb/13/australia-red-meat-industry-net-zero-target-land-clearing-data-not-reliable