Greenhouse gas emissions from beef consumption in Bolivia

Globally, food is responsible for about 26% of all greenhouse gas emissions, or roughly 14 billion tCO₂eq per year (Ritchie, 2019). If we divide this number by the current global population of almost 8 billion people, we find that the average person emits about 1.75 tCO₂eq per year just by eating (or throwing away food).

However, food emissions depend greatly on what you eat and how it was produced. Beef is widely known as a major villain (CDTM, 2021), and beef that is produced by clearing forest in the Amazon is among the worst (Cederberg et al., 2011). 

In this article, we will calculate the average emissions from beef consumption in Bolivia for the period 2001-2020.

In Bolivia, because of the way beef is produced, there are two main sources of greenhouse gas emissions from beef production: 1) Methane emissions from enteric fermentation (the digestive process of the cattle), and 2) CO₂ emissions from converting forest to pasture for the cattle.

In addition, there are many different sources of emissions along the supply chain until it reaches the final consumer, from slaughtering, processing, packaging, refrigeration, transportation, to cooking, but these are minor in comparison to the first two and will be ignored in this article.

Both imports and exports of beef were insignificant[1] in Bolivia until 2020 (ITC, 2022), so these will also be ignored, and for the purpose of emissions calculations we will assume that beef consumption in Bolivia is equal to beef production.

Methane emissions from cattle in Bolivia

According to Bolivia’s latest communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), cattle-related methane emissions in 2008 amounted to 13.9 million tCO₂eq (Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia, 2020). At that time, Bolivia had 7,786,802 heads of cattle (FAO, 2022), so each of them emitted about 1.787 tCO₂eq per year. This factor can be assumed to be relatively stable over time and space, and allows us to calculate annual methane emissions from cattle in Bolivia as indicated in Table 1.

Table 1: Bolivian cattle herd, beef production and cattle methane emissions, 2001-2020

Year	Cattle herd (FAOSTAT)	Beef production (tons) (FAOSTAT)	Methane emissions from cattle (million tCO2eq)
2001	6,500,096	160,943	11.6
2002	6,673,475	164,551	11.9
2003	6,851,256	168,226	12.2
2004	7,033,582	172,000	12.6
2005	7,217,507	175,000	12.9
2006	7,409,002	200,000	13.2
2007	7,586,526	244,375	13.6
2008	7,786,802	248,680	13.9
2009	7,985,230	202,026	14.3
2010	8,189,786	202,347	14.6
2011	8,400,439	205,187	15.0
2012	8,620,784	212,595	15.4
2013	8,847,434	215,179	15.8
2014	8,798,354	224,651	15.7
2015	8,948,602	243,000	16.0
2016	9,119,000	252,000	16.3
2017	9,304,000	260,000	16.6
2018	9,556,000	268,000	17.1
2019	9,741,474	266,499	17.4
2020	10,142,680	276,447	18.1
Average (2001-2020)	8,235,601	218,085	14.7

Source: Authors’ calculations based on data from FAO (2022) and Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia (2020).

CO₂ emissions from converting forest to pasture in Bolivia

Far more important than the methane emissions are the emissions from forests that were burned to create pasture for cattle.[2] 

According to Global Forest Watch (2022), from 2001 to 2021, Bolivia lost 6.67 million hectares of tree cover, causing 3.01Gt of CO₂ emissions, or 451 tCO₂/ha, on average. Not all of this is caused by cattle ranching, but a large part is. According to Müller et al. (2014), 51.9% of the deforestation experienced in Bolivia between 2000 and 2010 was caused directly by cattle ranching. No detailed studies are available for the 2010-2020 period, but the number of cattle has increased faster than the area of cropland during the latest decade (FAO, 2022), so there is no reason to suspect cattle ranching has become a less important driver of deforestation lately.  For lack of more detailed information, we will assume that cattle ranching is responsible for 50% of deforestation in Bolivia every year during the last two decades. Table 2 presents the CO₂ emissions from cattle-related deforestation using this simplifying assumption.  

Table 2: CO₂ emissions from cattle-related deforestation in Bolivia, 2001-2020

Year	Total annual deforestation (hectares) (Global Forest Watch)	Deforestation caused by cattle ranching (50%)	CO2 emissions from cattle-related deforestation (million tCO2)
2001	140,321	70,161	31.6
2002	178,808	89,404	40.3
2003	163,759	81,880	36.9
2004	203,251	101,626	45.8
2005	250,748	125,374	56.5
2006	216,314	108,157	48.8
2007	189,953	94,977	42.8
2008	369,851	184,926	83.4
2009	225,270	112,635	50.8
2010	451,759	225,880	101.9
2011	330,239	165,120	74.5
2012	273,544	136,772	61.7
2013	179,823	89,912	40.6
2014	256,901	128,451	57.9
2015	166,275	83,138	37.5
2016	470,601	235,301	106.1
2017	463,194	231,597	104.5
2018	301,856	150,928	68.1
2019	852,090	426,045	192.1
2020	429,780	214,890	96.9
Average (2001-2020)	305,717	152,858	68.9

Source: Authors’ calculations based on data from Global Forest Watch (2022).

Total greenhouse gas emissions from beef consumption in Bolivia

Table 3 sums up total greenhouse gas emissions from cattle ranching and beef consumption in Bolivia between 2001 and 2020. Emissions from beef consumption averaged 384 kg of CO₂eq per kg of beef produced/consumed.

Table 3: Total greenhouse gas emissions from cattle ranching and beef consumption in Bolivia, 2001-2020

Year	Methane emissions from cattle (million tCO2eq)	CO2 emissions from cattle-related deforestation (million tCO2)	Total greenhouse gas emissions from beef consumption in Bolivia (million tCO2)	Greenhouse gas emissions per kilo of beef consumption (kg CO2eq/kg)
2001	11.6	31.6	43.3	269
2002	11.9	40.3	52.2	318
2003	12.2	36.9	49.2	292
2004	12.6	45.8	58.4	340
2005	12.9	56.5	69.4	397
2006	13.2	48.8	62.0	310
2007	13.6	42.8	56.4	231
2008	13.9	83.4	97.3	391
2009	14.3	50.8	65.1	322
2010	14.6	101.9	116.5	576
2011	15.0	74.5	89.5	436
2012	15.4	61.7	77.1	363
2013	15.8	40.6	56.4	262
2014	15.7	57.9	73.7	328
2015	16.0	37.5	53.5	220
2016	16.3	106.1	122.4	486
2017	16.6	104.5	121.1	466
2018	17.1	68.1	85.1	318
2019	17.4	192.1	209.6	786
2020	18.1	96.9	115.0	416
Average (2001-2020)				384

Source: Authors’ calculations based on data from FAO (2022), Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia (2020), Müller et al. (2014), and Global Forest Watch (2022). 

Bolivia’s beef emissions in perspective

Figure 1 shows that the emissions intensity of beef in Bolivia is almost 4 times higher than the average emissions intensity from beef consumption globally, mainly because Bolivian beef is associated with a lot of deforestation (on average 0.7 hectares of deforestation per ton of beef). 

The figure also shows the average emissions intensity from other food products. These are global averages, but they are probably not very different in Bolivia. Thus, eating 1 kg of beef in Bolivia emits about 39 times more greenhouse gasses than eating 1 kg of chicken, and 767 times more than eating 1 kg of potatoes.

Figure 1: Greenhouse gas emissions per kg of food product (kgCO₂eq/kg)

 

 

Source: Authors’ elaboration using data from Ritchie & Roser (2021) and own estimations from Table 3.

In 2020, Bolivians on average consumed about 23 kg of beef per person, up from 10 kg per person in 1961 (FAO, 2022). This means that an average person in Bolivia now emits 8.9 tons of CO₂eq per year just from eating beef.

To put this number in perspective, consider that the average per capita emissions in the world from all sources is around 5 t CO₂eq/person/year. Or another comparison: Eating just 100 grams of beef in Bolivia corresponds to driving about 213 km in a private car[3] alone.

A vegetarian in Bolivia could go on a Caribbean cruise 5 times every year (including flights to and from Miami) and still not cause as much greenhouse gas emissions as a person who eats 100 grams of beef every day for a year.[4]  

 Recommendations

There are two main options for reducing Bolivia’s extremely high emissions from cattle ranching and beef consumption: 1) Consume less beef, or 2) Produce beef without causing deforestation.

One of the options is in the hands of consumers, and the other is in the hands of producers. Both seem relatively easy changes for individuals and business to implement, but without incentives to do so, it probably won’t happen. Changes in both consumption and production patterns would be greatly facilitated by a public policy that strongly discouraged deforestation.

Unfortunately, public policy seems to go in the opposite direction, with plans to expand Bolivian beef production so as to export our high-emissions beef to other countries as well (Fundación Solon, 2021). Environmentally, this is about the worst possible option for replacing dwindling natural gas export revenues.

A potentially much better option would be to take advantage of the opportunity to receive compensation for reduced deforestation (several thousand dollars per hectare, if well negotiated) and use those funds to put Bolivia on a more sustainable development path, taking advantage of our spectacular natural and cultural resources without destroying them.

 References

Castillo, S. (2017). How much carbon does cruise ship tourism emit?. Griffith Institute for Tourism Insights. https://blogs.griffith.edu.au/institute-for-tourism/how-much-carbon-does-cruise-ship-tourism-emit/

CDTM – The Center for Digital Technology and Management. (2021). Holy Cow! The environmental cost of your food choice. https://www.cdtm.de/2021/07/20/environmental-cost-food-choice/

Cederberg, C., Persson, U. M., Neovius, K., Molander, S., & Clift, R. (2011). Including carbon emissions from deforestation in the carbon footprint of Brazilian beef. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es103240z

C Level. (n.d.). Flight Carbon Calculator. https://www.clevel.co.uk/flight-carbon-calculator/#s-two

Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia (2020). Tercera Comunicación Nacional de Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia. Ante la Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre Cambio Climático. Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Agua y Autoridad Plurinacional de la Madre Tierra. https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/NC3%20Bolivia.pdf

FAO – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2022). Data sets, Crops and livestock products. https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL

Fundación Solón, (2021). El cuento chino de la exportación de carne boliviana. https://fundacionsolon.org/2021/10/04/el-cuento-chino-de-la-exportacion-de-carne-boliviana/

Global Forest Watch, (2021). Bolivia, Cambio Forestal. https://www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards/country/BOL/

IDAE, (n.d.). Consumo y emisiones de CO₂. https://coches.idae.es/consumo-de-carburante-y-emisiones

Ministry of Rural Development and Lands (2013). Boletín informativo carne de res. https://siip.produccion.gob.bo/noticias/files/123_0406201472doc_07CARNDE%20DE%20RES.pdf

Müller, R., Pacheco, P., & Montero, J. C. (2014). El contexto de la deforestación y degradación de los bosques en Bolivia: Causas, actores e instituciones (Vol. 100). CIFOR. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/262f/bddd315cf882789e751cd12bf2addda1b25e.pdf

My Climate – Shape our future. (n.d.). Offset your flight emissions!. https://co2.myclimate.org/en/flight_calculators/new

Ritchie, H. (2019). Food production is responsible for one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/food-ghg-emissions  

Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2019).  Meat and Dairy Production. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/meat-production

Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2019).  Environmental Impacts of Food Production. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food

ITC – International Trade Center (2022). TRADE MAP. https://www.trademap.org/Index.aspx

[1] If we consider both exports and imports of beef, the average amount of meat consumption per person (kg/year), varies from 21.0 to 20.9, an insignificant change.

[2] This not only releases the carbon stored in forest biomass, but also prevents the absorption of new CO₂ emissions. Furthermore, it has impact in the loss of biodiversity, the variation of the hydrological cycle, the local weather, among others.

[3] On average, driving a car for 100 km generates 18.5 kilos of CO₂ (IDAE, n.d.). This means that if a person drives 100 km per day for a year, their emissions from the use of their private vehicle would reach 6,738 kg of CO₂. In comparison, 100 grams of meat produces 39.3 kg of CO₂eq, implying that if a person consumes 100 grams of beef per day, the emission for a year would be equivalent to 14,345 kg of CO₂eq from meat consumption alone.

[4] The average emissions from a roundtrip plane trip from Santa Cruz to Miami corresponds to 1.6 tons of CO₂ per passenger (C Level, n.d.; My Climate, n.d). On the other hand, the average emissions of a cruise in the Caribbean for a week corresponds to 0.83 tons per person (Castillo, 2017). Making a total of 2,420 kg of CO₂. Eating 100 grams of beef per day for a year (14,345 CO2eq) is thus emits 5.9 times more greenhouse gas emissions than the roundtrip flight and cruise.