The Heat of Meat: Brazil’s beef industry and global warming | People and Power

foreign [Music] particularly of beef is a major contributor to global warming the methane expelled by cattle and other farm animals accounts for around 14 of all human-induced climate emissions the industry is also a significant factor in deforestation particularly in Brazil where vast swathes of Amazonia have been cleared for grazing so should more be done to rein in those responsible or should consumers change their habits we've been to Brazil to find out thank you as the worlds tries to get to grips with the climate crisis amid Rising cases of extreme weather attention has largely focused on co2 emissions from coal gas and oil [Music] but methane produced by cattle is one of the biggest causes of global warming it reacts faster than CO2 and is considerably more harmful [Music] methane is 80 times more damaging than CO2 and beef production is the leading cause of deforestation but if climate activists accuse the global meat industry of threatening the future existence of us all it's already a matter of life and death in Brazil for the indigenous people trying to protect what's left of the Amazon rainforest we've seen an explosion in the numbers of killings of indigenous people in recent years communities with deep ancestral ties to this extraordinary ecosystem are being pushed off their land to make way for cattle the world needs to think about the protection these people that are in dangerous because they are fighting for the forest [Music] at this year's Carnival in Rio the celebrations had an optimistic flavor the election of President Lula de Silva has given fresh hope to indigenous people that something may now be done to stop the destructive incursions into their territories which the previous government had either ignored or promoted but it won't be easy on January the 8th 2023 just days after Lula's inauguration supporters of former president Jaya bolsonaro stormed the capital in an attempt to overturn the election result many of them are believed to have had links to the land Invaders is this is with bolsonaro no longer in power and the failure of his supporters to turn back the clock in theory things should improve foreign [Music] which contains roughly two-thirds of the Amazon rainforest and other important biomes is home to an astonishing array of Wildlife as well as a last refuge for many endangered species these habitats are quite literally the lungs of our planet [Music] now we know that the importance this to me this place the Amazon it's the most important place in the world [Music] but the age-old struggle between indigenous people and cattle ranchers continues to take its toll on an ecosystem vital in the fight against global warming they move into a new area log the area for precious Timber clear the remaining vegetation often plant pasture and then that will eventually become cutter ranches [Music] quite apart from the deforestation the methane emissions from these animals has become a major driver of climate change in the last few decades a handful of Corporations have established slaughterhouses and meat processing plants throughout the Amazon churning out vast quantities of meat much of which is destined for consumption in Europe and the US and the ever-growing herds of cattle necessary to maintain output are producing millions of tons of methane the biggest source of methane emissions and it's also responsible for the most deforestation so this is really something that if we are to stay below 1.5 degree temperature increase we have to reduce we have to reduce production of livestock according to a report published by changing markets and the iatp The Institute for agriculture and trade policy methane emissions from just 15 meat and dairy conglomerates surpassed those of Russia and equate to more than 80 percent of the eu's methane footprint these companies are also responsible for huge amounts of CO2 if you put them together their CO2 emissions there would be the 10 biggest country as a climate polluter there are now 1.5 billion cows worldwide and Global cattle herds have increased by 561 million since the 1960s AKA expells up to 300 liters of methane every day and according to the UN cows and other farm animals account for around 14 of human-induced climate emissions but there is big money to be made in the meat and dairy business and no effective measures are in place to curb the industry projections are that meat production would increase by 50 by 2050 [Music] um so it's growing most meat is eaten in affluent countries the typical European eats twice the global average while in the U.S the rate is even higher this campaigners say is having disastrous consequences if we don't reduce consumption and production of meat and dairy we can say goodbye to 1.5 that's very clear [Music] the front line of the battle to contain methane emissions is in the Amazon rainforest these pictures were taken from private WhatsApp groups shared by land Grabbers that invade indigenous territory DeForest fast areas and establish cattle Farms times indigenous inhabitants who by law own this land have even been killed defending their property no government has ever prioritized protecting indigenous rights and makes sure that there's enough oversight to keep criminal activity outside these lands a frontier indigenous people had to ask themselves to protect their Forest against that backdrop of State neglect Brazil's meat companies expanded into the Amazon and became the biggest in the world this processing plant belongs to Brazilian meat giant marfrig the world's biggest hamburger producer which supplies many Global Brands such as McDonald's and Burger King nevertheless according to its promotional video marfrig's business model is good for the environment we are committed to the sustainability of our businesses we strive for excellence in everything we do more Frick has perfectly insisted it doesn't purchase livestock inappropriately raised on lands belonging to indigenous tribes it's a claim critics dispute these include the Mickey people of matagrosa estate who for centuries have lived in harmony with the rainforest cultivating cassava gathering fruit and hunting they say the arrival of cattle has caused serious problems internal a Korean boy it is the Mickey territory is shrinking fast as expanding cattle herds gobble up their Forest foreign [Music] [Music] a lot of these branches and Farms that might be in conflict with indigenous communities they will become integrated Global markets through the sales of their cattle to very large slaughterhouses or very large traders that will then export these commodities we wanted to ask more frig about its policies on deforestation but the company did not agree to an interview or a statement but on its website it says we are committed to making our production chain 100 deforestation free by 2030. critics point out that this can also be interpreted as a tacit admission that it currently processes cattle from deforested land [Music] cattle ranching is such a driver of deforestation as the next six Commodities combined so it is it is huge they're environmental footprint take a look at satellite images of the Amazon and it soon becomes clear that the only Forest remaining intact is that still occupied by indigenous people foreign despite numerous death threats from Land Invaders Medina has campaigned against deforestation for over 50 years foreign all the same it's a desperate battle fire started deliberately to clear forest for cattle can devastate huge areas this is a common sight we encountered in matagroso and rondonia two of the Brazilian provinces most affected by deforestation dry Timber is being laid out ready for the Burning Season the fires of 2020 were the worst on record foreign [Music] one of the worst affected regions was the pantanal in matagroso the largest wetland in the world it's a jaw-droppingly beautiful Wilderness with an extraordinary abundance of biodiversity like the Amazon just to the north much of it is endangered Hyacinth Macaw is the biggest macaw in the world they live here in the Fontana and probably you have a bit more than 3 000 individuals left in the world aleton Lara has been a guide on the pantanal for 20 years and had never seen anything like the fires of 2020 an estimated 7 million animals perished he blames the cattle ranchers almost 100 percent of the fire and the Fontana was put by uh Rangers they wanted to clear the land in an easier way it burned about 26 percent of the pantanau we filmed several large herds of cattle in the pantanal but dranching isn't the only threat to this unique ecosystem some developers are even talking of draining the pantanau in order to grow soya which would then be used to feed livestock is anyone who thinks that clearing Forester grows soy shames vegetarians as much as meat eaters would be wrong ninety percent of soy goes into animal feed so you really should not blame vegans for deforestation in fact magic Mata Grosso has already been turned over to Soy production well once there was rainforest now enormous deserts of soy stretch into the horizon the region once sucked up huge volumes of CO2 now its net emissions of the greenhouse gas are greater than that it absorbs if you add to this the facts that vast quantities of herbicide are sprayed onto the crop poisoning nearby rivers and that soy is also grown on land once held by indigenous people it's easy to see how trouble begins beef and soy these are two major economic activities often linked to to these kinds of land conflicts in Brazil but the drive forever higher profits and bigger exports appears Unstoppable JBS the world's largest Meat Company is Brazil's other beef Colossus with abattoirs like this one throughout the Amazon it has a turnover of 71 billion dollars its customers include McDonald's KFC Pizza Hut and many other Western household names if you look at their methane emissions they compare to combined methane emissions of entire livestock sector of Canada France Germany and New Zealand and these are all countries that produce huge amounts of meat and Dairy the sheer scale of jbs's global operations is simply mind-boggling yet his corporate video makes no mention of the company's vast methane footprint and critics allege that despite the company's claims to be helping to reduce deforestation JBS maintains its enormous output by using beef cattle raised on once indigenous owned land in fact eighty percent of cleared lands in the Brazilian Amazon are now populated by cattle these illegal Farms are situated within the iru Wawa territory in the state of rondonia foreign JBS did not reply to our requests for an interview or a statement but in response to some of the claims in the Brazilian media in 2021 it said it had no tolerance for illegal deforestation forced labor misuse of indigenous lands or violations of environmental embargoes the company also said it had blocked more than 14 000 supplier forms for failures to comply with our policies and standards and we will continue to take additional actions as warranted but indigenous activists don't just blame the meat producers they also point the finger at bias and consumers elsewhere in the world aside if you continue by the myth that you know come from our territories should Europe and North America be buying me should be from companies that are implicated in illegal deforestation now um the situation is clearly out of control according to Brazil's indigenous missionary Council in 2021 there were almost 1300 violent invasions of indigenous territories often with the purpose of clearing land for cattle farming there has a long history of of landowners and Farmers working with armed militias to suppress indigenous rights with almost complete impunity in some cases even with collusion State forces away [Music] Brazil's indigenous people have no alternative but to defend their land or perish and defending the forest is a dangerous business is foreign whose badly beaten body was found on the side of a dirt track in 2020 Flores Flores Brazilian street artist mandano has painted a tribute to Ari in the heart of Sao Paulo on the clouds above him I painted several hundreds of names of indigenous and environmental activists that was murdered here in Brazil in the last four years during the bolsonaro government Ari's murder has come to symbolize the gulf between those defending the forest and those exploiting it but just as the indigenous peoples of Amazonia are threatened by those who invade their territory to raise cattle so is everyone else of course we all need food but does that have to mean consuming the products of a profit-hungry meat industry we are eating the planets right our planet is burning our house is on fire and these companies have the torch so we really really have to have to act [Music] this effect not only the biodiversity the force that we lost there was our spirituality our culture imagine this is a secret place and now we have only cattle there we cannot change climate disaster but we know that we can mitigate it and the people in the European countries needn't stand and learn with the indigenous peoples how we are connected we've just planning

Channel: Al Jazeera English

Views: 22,513

Keywords: Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera English, Amazon, Amazon rainforest, Beef, Brazil, Meat, The Heat of Meat, The Heat of Meat: Brazil’s beef industry and global warming, al Jazeera, al jazeera English, al jazeera live, al jazeera video, aljazeera English, aljazeera latest, aljazeera live, aljazeera live news, climate, climate change, deforestation, environment, latest news, news headlines

Id: A2oSL4PVkKo

Length: 25min 0sec (1500 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 13 2023