Over 100 civil society organisations globally have called on major US banks to halt their financing of industrial livestock production, pointing to its disastrous climate impact. Targeting the likes of Bank of America, Citigroup and JP Morgan, the letter highlighted the critical role of major banks in exacerbating the climate crisis through their support of meat, dairy and feed corporations – including JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill and Nestlé. Research shows global banks have provided more than US$615 billion in credit to the sector since the Paris Agreement. The letter called on the banks to recognise industrial livestock production as high-emitting and implement sector-specific 1.5°C targets and action plans. Key demands include halting new financing, requiring clients to disclose and adhere to verified climate targets, and addressing the broader social and environmental harms caused by the industry. “Industrial livestock production is one of the most destructive activities for our planet. By continuing to finance [it], banks are complicit in driving climate change and environmental degradation, undermining their own climate commitments,” said Monique Mikhail, Agriculture and Climate Finance Campaigns Director at Friends of the Earth. “Halting all new financing that enables expansion … is one of the most climate-positive actions [they] can take.” Industrial livestock emissions significantly contribute to global warming and biodiversity loss, while also inflicting substantial harm on animal welfare and human rights. According to the statement, emissions from the top 56 global meat, dairy and feed corporations alone are higher than those of Japan. In addition, meat and dairy corporations’ actual emissions may be up to four times higher than self-reported figures – a discrepancy the signatories attribute to underreported data and exclusion of Scope 3 emissions. The letter is part of a broader global campaign to hold major banks accountable on the subject. “Major banks must stop financing industrial beef production which is driving deforestation and land-grabbing in the Amazon,” said Stephanie Dowlen, Forest and Finance Campaigner at Rainforest Action Network. “Cattle-ranching is pushing this critical ecosystem to an irreversible tipping point and significantly reducing the world’s capacity to combat climate change.”
