Angus Ireland, Program Manager-Fiber Advocacy and Eco-credentials, Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) believe, the impact of livestock’s contribution to global warming is being overstated. As per a report by the Farmers’ Weekly, it had been previously reported that livestock contributed 18 per cent of human-produced greenhouse gas emissions around the world.

UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had earlier calculated that methane gas generated from the digestion of pasture remained in the atmosphere for 100 or more years, continuing to have a harmful effect for that length of time. However, a recent research by the LEAP project reassessed methane’s contribution to global warming and proved that it was relatively short-lived in the atmosphere. Ireland said, the UN had recognized the new findings, and had formed a technical advisory group that reported to the LEAP project.

Ireland says, this new information was also proving useful for AWI’s current attempts to counter the EU’s efforts to mandate that clothing and textile products carry labels displaying their environmental credentials. The EU was targeting the textile industry in order to achieve climate neutrality and a true circular economy, he said.